Two of four Americans kidnapped in Mexico are alive, two dead

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Myrtle

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MEXICO CITY, March 7 (Reuters) - Two of four Americans who went missing on Friday in the Mexican northern border state of Tamaulipas are alive, and two are dead, the state governor said on Tuesday.

"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," Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal said on a call with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the president gave his daily news conference.

ABC News on Monday named the four people as Latavia "Tay" McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams.

Authorities said that a Mexican bystander was killed when the four were abducted last week.

Separately, a Mexican official told Reuters that two of the men had been found dead. The woman and another man were alive, safe and in the hands of authorities, the official said.

Lopez Obrador said one person was in custody in relation to the kidnapping in Tamaulipas, which has long been one of the most violent states in Mexico.

The four Americans were in a white minivan when they entered the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on Friday.

Gunmen fired on the passengers shortly after they crossed into Mexico and then herded them into another vehicle before fleeing the scene, according to the U.S. embassy in Mexico.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/two-americans-kidnapped-mexico-are-alive-two-dead-2023-03-07/
 

Sad because the gangsters screwed up royally kidnapping the wrong people. They don't even have the people they want yet and there are 3 dead innocent people that having nothing to do with them.
 

I heard earlier that they ran through a cartel checkpoint without stopping but like Kate said, I don’t know if that’s true. According to other recent stories the cartels are pretty much in charge of large parts of Mexico now.

Do you go to Mexico? Would you vacation there now? It’s time for spring break which usually means hordes of students down there.
 
Myrtle said:
Do you go to Mexico? Would you vacation there now? It’s time for spring break which usually means hordes of students down there.
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I've never been to Mexico and I've never had any interest in going... if I want to go to one of our border countries, I'm 100% going to Canada. My aunt did a cruise that stopped somewhere in Mexico about 10-12 years ago and she wasn't impressed in the least.
 
CallMeKate said:
I've never been to Mexico and I've never had any interest in going... if I want to go to one of our border countries, I'm 100% going to Canada. My aunt did a cruise that stopped somewhere in Mexico about 10-12 years ago and she wasn't impressed in the least.
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I'd love to go someplace with water. But I'll stay in the U.S. if I ever do so. I watch the Charlevoix bridge cam on YouTube in the summer. Seems like a nice area to visit.
 
Have been to Brownsville and South Padre Island, Texas.
Warnings were given years ago! to stay this side of the border.

Always was told NEVER to venture into Matamoros.

iu



Did go into Mexico from the California border on two occasions. Didn't go past the border towns though.
 
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Don M. said:
Our oldest Daughter and Son-in-law used to go to Mexico on vacation every year...usually Cancun....but with the drug gangs ruling half that country, they stopped going 5 or 6 years ago....it's just not worth the risk.
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Cancun is a very popular holiday place for Brits. It's never appealed to me at all because of the tremendous criminal activity
 
Myrtle said:
I heard earlier that they ran through a cartel checkpoint without stopping but like Kate said, I don’t know if that’s true. According to other recent stories the cartels are pretty much in charge of large parts of Mexico now.

Do you go to Mexico? Would you vacation there now? It’s time for spring break which usually means hordes of students down there.
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I lived in Mexico 30+ years ago. It was great, but even at that time, it was dangerous for foreigners (and even Mexicans) to go to certain places.

I don't think it would be nice now. It's not even cheap.
 
JustBonee said:
Have been to Brownsville and South Padre Island, Texas on trips.
Warnings were given years ago! to stay this side of the border.

Always was told NEVER to venture into Matamoros.
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I've been to Juarez and Matamoros but only day trips for shopping. The last time was nearly 20 years ago and I wouldn't go again. I'm not even all that comfortable in Brownsville.
 
Myrtle said:
Do you go to Mexico? Would you vacation there now?
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Many times, drove down to Puerto Penasco (aka Rocky Point) just a couple of weeks ago for fishing. No problems.
NorthernLight said:
I lived in Mexico 30+ years ago. It was great, but even at that time, it was dangerous for foreigners (and even Mexicans) to go to certain places.
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Same is true of the US and probably many other countries. Problem is we know better how to avoid them on our own turf... Mexico still is cheaper than the US, but not nearly as much cheaper as it used to be. The charter fishing trips we took cost about 50 to 75% of what they would have cost here.
 
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Myrtle said:
I've been to Juarez and Matamoros but only day trips for shopping. The last time was nearly 20 years ago and I wouldn't go again. I'm not even all that comfortable in Brownsville.
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I know what you mean. It was something on our minds.

They talk about South Padre Island being a popular place for wealthy Mexicans to vacation in the states.
They were there in abundance every summer.
 
It's been nearly 20 years, but I crossed the border at Otay Mesa, nearly everyday for 3 years. Always with security, which really meant securing the bribe money when interacting with the police.

I never had a hankering to venture south on my own, for any reason, let alone... cosmetic surgery. BUTT, that is just my own personal opinion.
 
Myrtle said:
I heard earlier that they ran through a cartel checkpoint without stopping but like Kate said, I don’t know if that’s true. According to other recent stories the cartels are pretty much in charge of large parts of Mexico now.

Do you go to Mexico? Would you vacation there now? It’s time for spring break which usually means hordes of students down there.
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No, I have no desire to go back to Mexico. There are too many other places I'd rather visit.
 
Latest news says they got lost and I guess wound up in a bad neighborhood.

The same thing could happen in some U.S. cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, or Baltimore. Those cities have neighborhoods where if you accidently drove into them, you might not make it out alive.
 
SeniorBen said:
Latest news says they got lost and I guess wound up in a bad neighborhood.

The same thing could happen in some U.S. cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, or Baltimore. Those cities have neighborhoods where if you accidently drove into them, you might not make it out alive.
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Have you heard what they were going there for, Ben? I've heard both cosmetic surgery and medications that are a lot less expensive there. I know that people go there for some cancer treatment meds. (I'm not saying it matters, just that it's crazy the way news sources can give things as facts that are so different.) @SeniorBen

And you're right... there are some neighborhoods here that I wouldn't get near either... I probably walked around some of them 35 years ago carefree and fearless, but things have a way of changing. :(
 
SeniorBen said:
The same thing could happen in some U.S. cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, or Baltimore. Those cities have neighborhoods where if you accidently drove into them, you might not make it out alive.
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Yep, the difference is most of us can recognize the signs of a bad neighborhood in the US and avoid them. Or if we are familiar with a city we know where they are. Not so much in Mexico, not for Americans. To a lot of us most of Mexican towns look like bad neighborhoods, but are not. So the actually dangerous areas don't jump out at us.

So far as I can tell from the research I have done the murder rate in Mexico is about 3 times ours, so over all it is more dangerous. However much of that is cartel and drug related, if you can avoid that you are mostly safe, as safe as here. Headlines like this one, 2 deaths, are hard to really interpret. Solid murder rate statistics would be a lot more helpful. I'm sure a lot of people were murdered in the US on the same day...
CallMeKate said:
Have you heard what they were going there for, Ben?
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Cosmetic surgery I think. I know a lot of people go to Mexico for lower cost dental and medical treatment, and I think it works fine for most. Maybe people going for cosmetic surgery are more likely to be carrying a lot of cash and make more attractive targets? Just a guess.
 
SeniorBen said:
The mother of six wanted a "tummy-tuck."
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I'm sure it depends on where you need to go in Mexico for cheaper drugs, medical treatment, or cosmetic surgery. It probably works out okay for most people, but evidently not all. After reading reports like this, you'd better really think about it and decide if it's worth your life to chance it.
 
Years ago, I was on a motorcycle trip in the S/west. While in Texas, I decided to take the bridge over to Mexico ... just cuz. Nothing bad happened to me but .... all the time i was there [30-45 minutes] I just had the most uneasy feeling . I just felt like I was being 'sized-up' so I just had a Coke [canned] and headed back to the U.S.

An ex-girlfriend of mine had some scary moments down there as well. Her & her friends left the resort to attend a another bar about three miles away. When they decided to leave that bar, the shuttle had stopped running .... they had to walk, in the dark, back to the resort. It's a long story, [I'll spare you] But she said when they got back ... all three of them realized how dumb it was to go in the first place , and they just werre trembling.
 

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