(Trends Wide) — One week after the violent kidnappings of four Americans in Mexico, investigators are still working to piece together how and why the kidnapping unfolded, even after a cartel apologized for carrying out what one victim’s father called “a senseless crime” that left two Americans and a Mexican woman dead.
The case remains “very confusing” for investigators, who are still gathering information about last Friday’s kidnapping and considering all angles, an official with the Tamaulipas Prosecutor’s Office familiar with the investigation told Trends Wide.
Although authorities have not publicly named any suspects, the Gulf Cartel, which is believed to be responsible for the kidnappings, issued a letter of apology on Thursday and the group turned over five of its members to local authorities, according to footage that are circulating online and a version of the letter obtained by Trends Wide from an official familiar with the ongoing investigation.
Trends Wide cannot confirm the authenticity of the photos and has asked US and Mexican authorities for comment.
(From left to right) LaTavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams survived the kidnapping, while Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were killed.
“He [cartel del Golfo] apologizes to the society of Matamoros, to the relatives of Mrs. Areli and to the American individuals and families affected,” the handwritten letter reads, referring to a Mexican woman who also died from a stray bullet in the shooting.
Although investigators believe the letter to be authentic, Mexican and US security forces involved in the investigation highly doubt the sincerity of the group’s apology, according to the official who shared the letter with Trends Wide.
A person was arrested in connection with the death of the Americans who carried out “surveillance functions of the victims,” ​​said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, on Tuesday, identifying the individual as 24-year-old José “N”. The authorities did not want to confirm if the man has any relationship with criminal organizations.
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The bodies of two Americans killed in the kidnapping—Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown—were turned over to US diplomatic authorities Thursday after undergoing a forensic examination, Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios said in a Tweet.
“I’ve tried to make sense of it and I’ve tried to be strong about it,” Woodard’s father, James Woodard, told reporters on Thursday, which would have been his son’s 34th birthday. “It was just a senseless crime.”
The two survivors – Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams – returned to the United States on Tuesday to receive treatment at a hospital. Williams, who had been shot three times in the legs, has since undergone two surgeries and had rods placed in his legs, his wife said on a GoFundMe page to raise money for Williams’ medical and living expenses. .
A fifth American in the group, Cheryl Orange, was scheduled to travel with the group on the day of the kidnapping, but had to stay behind because she did not have proper identification to cross the border. As she told Trends Wide, she has struggled with her guilt for narrowly escaping the attack.
“At first I was hammered by it and everyone told me I had to be thankful. I would really like to be by Tay’s side,” Orange said, referring to her “best friend” Washington McGee by her nickname “Tay.”
The close-knit group had traveled from South Carolina to Matamoros so that Washington McGee could undergo a medical procedure. But the friends were violently intercepted by gunmen who opened fire on the Americans’ van, roughly loaded them into the back of a truck and took them away, according to Washington McGee’s mother and a video of the encounter.
The victims were taken to various places before being found in a house on the outskirts of Matamoros on Tuesday, Villarreal said. Since then, the Tamaulipas prosecutor’s office has found an ambulance that was used to transport the victims to receive first aid treatment at a clinic, which authorities have also located, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
It was music to my ears to hear his voice
As the group of friends crossed into Matamoros last Friday, Orange stayed at his Brownsville, Texas hotel, growing increasingly concerned as evening wore on and the friends did not return, he told Trends Wide’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday. .
“I told myself something was wrong,” Orange said. She contacted her boyfriend and Washington McGee’s brother to say that she was concerned.
The next morning, when Orange had to check out of the hotel, there was still no sign of Washington McGee or the others. At that point, he got so worried that he decided to call the police.
Orange reported the group missing Saturday to Brownsville police, according to a police report. The report indicates that the police checked the local jail to ensure that no one from the party had been arrested, but no further action was taken.
Eventually, Orange saw video of the kidnapping circulating on the internet, showing Washington McGee being forced into the back of a truck by armed gunmen and the bodies of the other victims being dragged along with her.
“My body contracted. I dropped my phone. My stomach knotted and I started praying for them to come back,” she said, watching the video.
Members of the National Guard await the departure of members of the Attorney General’s Office in a caravan with relatives of disappeared persons to a property called “La Bartolina” in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, on August 24 of 2021. (Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)
Finally hearing Washington McGee’s voice after being discovered alive, Orange could feel some relief. “He calmed me down a bit. Hearing his voice was music to my ears,” he said.
Meanwhile, the families of Woodard and Brown have to deal with the loss of loved ones.
“It was hard for me to watch those videos and see him being dragged and thrown in the back of a vehicle. It’s like God was already preparing me to know that it was probably the worst,” Woodard’s father said when watching the kidnapping video.
Woodard had accompanied her cousin, Washington McGee, to Mexico to undergo surgery, but also to celebrate her upcoming 34th birthday, her father said. He described his son as “lovely” and a “loving person.”
“If they had told me this day would come, I never would have believed it,” James Woodard said. He then added: “A father never expects to lose a child.”
Apology letter after the arrest of the cartel leader
US and Mexican security forces suspect the Gulf cartel’s apology letter was released after the kidnapping exposed the cartel to considerable public attention and scrutiny of its actions, according to the US official who confirmed the letter’s authenticity. .
In its letter, the cartel apologized to “Matamoros society, the relatives of Ms. Areli, and the affected American individuals and families,” referring to the Mexican woman killed by a stray bullet.
It is common for Mexican cartels, especially in the northeast of the country, to launch messages at authorities or rival groups after high-profile incidents, according to Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a George Mason University professor who studies the cartels.
The apology followed the arrest of a local leader of the Gulf cartel, wanted for previous kidnappings, in the city of Reynosa, some 55 kilometers west of Matamoros, according to a US official briefed on the arrest.
No connection to the kidnapping of the Americans last week is clear. But, as Trends Wide reported, the official believes members of the Gulf cartel attacked the Americans in Matamoros, mistaking them for Haitian drug smugglers.
The local cartel leader, Ernesto Sánchez-Rivera, is also known as “Metro 22” and “La Mierda” and is known to also have ties to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, the source added.
Trends Wide has contacted the local prosecutor for more information about the arrest, but has yet to hear back.
The kidnapping of Americans has increased scrutiny over efforts to control cartel violence in Mexico, including from US Republican lawmakers, who have called for designation of the cartels as terrorist organizations and signaled plans to file legislation allowing the US military to operate in Mexico.
Pressure from Republicans was met with a swift rebuke from Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who says the actions would infringe on Mexican sovereignty.
Trends Wide’s Omar Fajardo, Fidel Gutiérrez, Karol Suárez, Sharif Paget, Alberto Bello and David Shortell contributed to this report.
