GhLinks Media
Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen in Mexico on Friday have been identified as Latavia Tay McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams.
Latavia Tay McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams crossed into Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan with North Carolina plates on Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said said Sunday.
Not long after entering Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf drug cartel – they came under fire from a group of armed men and were bundled into the back of a pickup truck. They have not been seen since.
Ms McGee’s mother Barbara Burgess told ABC News that her daughter had traveled from her home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to get a tummy tuck in Mexico, and that her cousin Mr Woodard and their two friends were accompanying her on the ride.
Ms Burgess said she was worried about her daughter going and warned her it might not be safe.
But, her daughter brushed off her concerns telling her: “Ma, I’ll be okay”.
Ms Burgess last heard from Ms McGee on Friday when she called to say that they were just 15 minutes from the cosmetic surgeon’s office where she was scheduled to have the procedure that day.
She never heard from her daughter again.
Ms Burgess said she tried calling Ms McGee later that day but her phone went straight to voicemail.
Not long later, she said she received a visit from an FBI agent, revealing what had happened.
Mr Brown’s sister Zalandria Brown told The Associated Press that the situation felt like a “bad dream” as she revealed that her younger brother had voiced concerns about travelling to such a dangerous place.
