2 Of 4 Americans Kidnapped By Gunmen In Mexico Border Town Found Dead

One of the two survivors suffered a gunshot wound in his legs which was not life-threatening while the other, a woman, was not injured. A Mexican woman, 33, also died during the kidnapping ordeal.

National Guard and military vehicles take part in an operation to transfer two of the four US citizens kidnapped in Mexicothe US, after the other two were found dead

Source : AFP

Two of four Americans who were kidnapped by gunmen in Mexico border town of Matamoros have been found dead, said the US and Mexican officials on Tuesday, reported news agency Reuters. The survivors and the two deceased were discovered by Mexican security forces on Tuesday morning in a wood cabin southeast of the border city of Matamoros, said Americo Villarreal, governor of Tamaulipas, the state the four crossed into from Texas.

While the authorities are still investigating the cause of how the two Americans died, one Mexican official said the most likely explanation for the group's abduction was a case of mistaken identity.

As per the report, one of the two survivors suffered a gunshot wound in his legs which was not life-threatening while the other, a woman, was not injured, Villareal said in a press conference. 

A 33-year-old Mexican woman also died during the kidnapping ordeal, apparently from a stray bullet, he added. 

A 24-year-old man guarding them at the cabin was arrested at the scene. Before they were found, the four had been moved to a succession of locations in the area, including a local clinic in a bid to throw law enforcement off the trail, Villarreal said.

"We're very sorry to have this happen in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, their friends, to the people of the United States," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told an earlier news conference.

The survivors were handed over to the US officials on Tuesday morning, and the two bodies were to follow in the next few hours, Villarreal said. The U.S. State Department confirmed two Americans had returned to the United States.

Four Americans were shot at by gunmen in northern Mexico and then kidnapped shortly after crossing the border, Reuters had reported adding the authorities of both the countries were working to locate them. 

As per the report, the four unidentified Americans were in a white minivan with North Carolina licence plates when they entered Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on Friday, said the US Embassy in Mexico seeking public’s help in identifying the kidnappers. 

An innocent Mexican died in the incident, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in a statement while Mexico’s President said that the Americans had crossed into Mexico to buy medication.