Four Kidnapped Americans Have Been Found & Mexico Is 'Very Sorry' They Didn't All Survive
They crossed the border to get cosmetic surgery.
Mexican armed forces are shown in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Mexico's president is apologizing after a grim end to a kidnapping situation involving four American citizens, in a case that led to the FBI offering a $50,000 reward.
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Mexican authorities announced on Tuesday that they have recovered two of the four Americans who were kidnapped at gunpoint in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas last week. They also shared that the other two Americans who were kidnapped in the incident were dead.
The foursome had crossed into Mexico on March 3 on a trip for one of them to get a tummy tuck, family members previously said to AP News. They were on their way to the city of Matamoros when armed gunmen captured them and drove off with them in another vehicle, the FBI said.
The FBI eventually got involved and announced a $50,000 cash reward for tips that led to their recovery and the arrest of those involved.
Américo Villarreal, the governor of Tamaulipas, announced the mixed results of the case on Tuesday at a news conference.
"It's been confirmed by the attorney general's office, of the four, two of them have died, there's one person injured, and the other person is alive," Villarreal said, per Reuters.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was also part of the new conference, apologized for the incident.
"We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends, and the United States government, and we will continue doing our work to guarantee peace and tranquillity," he said, per BBC News.
However, Obrador also criticized media reactions to the deaths of U.S. citizens in Mexico, and compared them to those of Mexican deaths in the U.S., accusing news media of sensationalizing the whole thing.
"It’s not like that when they kill Mexicans in the United States, they [the media] go quiet like mummies," he said, per the Associated Press.
The president says one suspect is in custody.
Officials didn't immediately share any more details about where or how the Americans were found.
The four kidnapping victims have been identified as Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, Latavia McGee and Eric James Williams by ABC News, and Reuters confirmed the last two to be the survivors.
The U.S. government's latest travel advisory says Americans should not travel to Tamaulipas state due to "crime and kidnapping."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.