- Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexican are dead, while the other two were found alive.
- US officials confirmed the survivors are back in the US.
Two of the four Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen after crossing the Mexican border on Friday were found dead, according to US officials and a Mexican governor. The two survivors were found alive in Tamaulipas on Tuesday.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed in a press conference that the two survivors have been "repatriated back to the United States," according to CBS News.
Price added: "We are in the process of working to repatriate the remains of the two Americans who were killed."
Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement on Tuesday confirming the FBI "immediately contacted" Mexican law enforcement and security partners on Friday in an attempt to locate the victims after learning that the four Americans were attacked.
The two surviving Americans are receiving medical treatment back in the US, Garland said.
Relatives told CNN and ABC News that the Americans — identified by family as a group of friends, Zindell Brown, Latavia McGee, Eric James Williams, and Shaeed Woodard — were traveling for one of them to get a tummy tuck procedure.
Insider previously reported that the group traveled into Mexico in a white van with North Carolina license plates before they were fired at and taken by armed gunman. CNN reported that investigators believe they were mistaken for smugglers by a drug cartel.
"The Justice Department will be relentless in pursuing justice on their behalf," Garland said Tuesday. "We will do everything in our power to identify, find, and hold accountable the individuals responsible for this attack on American citizens."
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement Monday that a Mexican citizen not involved in the incident was also killed.
"On Friday, March 3rd, unknown assailants in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, violently kidnapped at gunpoint four US citizens in an incident in which an innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed," the statement read. "US law enforcement officials from numerous agencies are working with Mexican authorities at all levels of government to secure the safe return of our compatriots."
Obrador confirmed at a press conference Monday that the group was abducted on March 3 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the Rio Grande and southern US border with Brownsville, Texas. The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for the return of the victims.
It was originally reported by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that the group traveled to buy medication. The journey isn't uncommon for Americans who seek affordable health care. Prescription drugs, such as Insulin, can be thousands of dollars cheaper in Mexico, according to Kaiser Health News.
In recent months, American women have increasingly sought out abortion medication from Mexico, a Mexican abortion rights activist told Insider after the US Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.