In what officials believe may have been a case of mistaken identity, two Americans who traveled to Mexico for an abdominoplasty procedure (tummy tuck) were found dead this week.
It is believed that cartel gang members mistook the two Americans as Haitian drug smugglers when they were abducted and murdered. Two others who were also abducted survived their captors, though one is currently in hospital fighting to survive injuries.
All four of the people had crossed into Mexico via the Texas border. They were driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates when they came under fire in Matamoros, a city located in the north east of Mexico.
The vehicle crashed into another car outside a shop, shattering the passenger-side window. Men with assault rifles and tan body armor were also spotted at the scene forcing the four people into the bed of a white pickup truck in broad daylight.
"One was alive and sitting up, but the others seemed either dead or wounded," reported The Telegraph (United Kingdom) about the incident. "At least one person appeared to lift his head from the pavement before being dragged to the truck."
(Related: In other news, Mexico is phasing out all imports of genetically engineered [GMO] corn to protect its citizens from toxic harm.)
Matamoros is an infamously cartel-affected Mexican city with lots of violence
Authorities believe, based on current evidence, that the four individuals were mistook as Haitian drug smugglers, which cartel gang members saw as a threat.
"This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from," said Zalandria Brown of Florence, S.C. Brown's younger brother Zindell was one of the four victims.
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"To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable."
In addition to Zalandria's son Zindell, the other victims include LaTavia "Tay" McGee and her cousin Shaeed Woodard, as well as their friend Eric James Williams.
Strangely, there is no indication as to which of these individuals died and which survived.
According to McGee's mother, who is a mother of six, her daughter Tay was scheduled to undergo the tummy truck procedure. Her friends were there to support her.
All of the individuals were extremely close and had divvied up the costs of travel among themselves to make the process more affordable. They are said to have been well aware of the dangers in Mexico, with Brown's brother having stated before the trip that he was concerned about their safety.
"Zindell kept saying, 'we shouldn't go down," his mother Zalandria said.
It turns out that Matamoros, where the four were traveling, is known for its violence. Factions of powerful Gulf drug cartels fight among themselves there, and thousands of Mexicans have disappeared from the Tamaulipas state where the city is located.
"Of the four, two of them are dead, one person is wounded and the other is alive and right now the ambulances and the rest of the security personnel are going to them to give the corresponding support," announced Américo Villarreal, the Tamaulipas Governor.
No further details were shared by Villarreal, including where or how the four Americans were discovered. There was another woman from Mexico who reportedly died in the crossfire as well, it was revealed.
The bodies of those who are now deceased have reportedly been returned to the United States for proper burial.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reportedly offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who has further information about what transpired on that fateful day, according to the U.S. embassy in Mexico.
More related news can be found at Violence.news.
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