On Monday, Mexican and American authorities announced that they had begun searching for four US citizens who were shot at and abducted by unidentified gunmen in the northern area of Mexico. The four victims were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates when they arrived in Matamoros, Tamaulipas on Friday, leading the US Embassy in Mexico to request the public’s assistance in identifying the kidnappers.
The assailants shot at the occupants of the minivan, forcing them into another vehicle before fleeing. According to CNN, a US official with knowledge of the probe suggested that the Americans may have been the wrong target and were not the primary victims. The official added that the group had gone to Matamoros for medical treatments, supported by receipts found in their car.
The US State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Tamaulipas due to the risk of kidnapping, and Matamoros is just south of Brownsville, Texas. Reported by Reuters, three men and one woman had been kidnapped in the incident, which also resulted in the death of one innocent Mexican.
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar issued a statement about the situation. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced at a press conference on Monday that the Public Security Ministry of Mexico was collaborating with the FBI to find the missing US citizens. He said he hoped that the issue would be resolved.