A group of 4 Americans on a death trip to Mexico were childhood friends

The wife of one of two survivors of a deadly shootout and kidnapping in Mexico says she’s glad her husband is alive but “heartbroken for two other families who can’t say the same.”

Eric Williams and LaTavia Washington McGee survived a trip to Mexico that killed two more people, according to officials and family members.

A group of four Americans – all childhood friends – were attacked in Mexico on Friday while in the country for a medical procedure for one of them, authorities and family said.

The two were found dead, while Williams and McGee were returned to the United States on Tuesday, Mexican officials said.

Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams.
Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams.VMBF; Contributed by Michelle Williams

“They all knew each other all their lives,” Williams’ wife Michelle Williams said. They are childhood friends.

The two dead were identified by family members as Shaid Woodard and Zindell Brown.

The group’s minivan was shot at in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, which crosses the US-Mexico border from Brownsville, Texas, and gunmen drove them away in a vehicle, the FBI said.

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said the armed cartel may have targeted them due to misidentification.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica said on Tuesday that “when it comes to this interaction, it seems like it was a mix-up,” but the investigation is ongoing.

Relatives said the South Carolina Americans were on their way to Mexico so they could all share driver duties. McGee’s cousin, Alia McCleod, said they were going to Mexico so one of them could have a medical procedure.

More coverage of deadly kidnapping in Mexico

  • Kidnapping in Mexico was ‘difficult to prevent’ despite known dangers in border regions
  • The video shows how the abducted Americans were put in a pickup truck
  • Two Americans died and two were found alive in a kidnapping in Mexico, official says
  • Woman in group of abducted US citizens was in Mexico for cosmetic procedure, official says

The US State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas due to organized crime and kidnappings.

Michelle Williams said she first knew something was wrong on Sunday.

“I didn’t know anything until Sunday morning when the FBI arrived,” she said. “It all seemed so surreal to me. At first I thought it was a scam.”

Williams is from South Carolina, but he and other relatives now live in North Carolina, his older brother Robert said.

“He’s a fun guy,” said Robert Williams. “He is someone who has a taste for life. And he wants to make your life better, to put a smile on your face.”

Robert Williams last saw his brother about three weeks ago and had no idea he was in Mexico but was glad he was back in the US.

“The only thing I know is that he is alive,” said Robert Williams. – And this is the most important thing.

Tamaulipas Governor Americaco Villarreal said at a press conference on Tuesday that the four were found that morning in a wooden house near an area called La Lagunona in Matamoros.

According to him, a 24-year-old man from Tamaulipas “was found guarding the victims” and arrested.

Villarreal said their captors moved the four Americans to different locations days before they were found.

A 33-year-old Mexican woman was also killed by a stray bullet, Villarreal said.

The FBI on Tuesday called it a “horrific and brutal attack” and said it was continuing its investigation with the State Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to find out the facts of what happened.

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