Two of the Americans who were kidnapped last week have been found dead and two others alive, Mexican authorities have revealed.
Americo
Villareal Anaya, the governor of the state of Tamaulipas, where the
group was ambushed at gunpoint on Friday, March 3, confirmed the news in
a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on
Tuesday morning, March 7.
He said that one of the survivors was
wounded, and that ambulances were "rushing to the area to recover them
and offer them medical care."
López Obrador said later Tuesday that one suspect was in custody, according to the Associated Press.
"Those responsible will be found and they are going to be punished," he said.
The FBI
has said the U.S. citizens crossed over into Matamoros, Tamaulipas,
from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday, driving a white minivan with North
Carolina plates.
The FBI said a gunmen fired upon the passengers
before moving them into another vehicle and fleeing the scene, sparking
a frantic search by law enforcement agencies in both countries.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said "an innocent Mexican citizen" was killed in the attack.
The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for their return and the arrest of those involved.
Zalandria
Brown told the Associated Press that her brother, Zindell, and two
friends had accompanied a third friend to Mexico for a cosmetic surgery
procedure known as a tummy tuck.
"This is like a bad dream you
wish you could wake up from," she said. "To see a member of your family
thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable."
Mexican officials now say the group was caught in the crossfire of rival cartel groups, the AP reports.
