A highly armed convoy of Mexican military Humvees and National Guard vehicles with mounted machine guns transported two of the four Americans who were held prisoner and managed to escape abduction in Mexico last week back into the United States just before noon on Tuesday.
The surviving casualties were both returned with the help of the Mexican government, the State Department reported on Tuesday. The mother of LaTavia Washington McGee confirmed she is in a Texas hospital, and the brother of Eric Williams told NPR he is healing from a leg gunshot wound in the United States, despite the department not naming them.
Officials are "in the process of repatriating the remains" of the other two abduction victims, who were discovered dead in the border state of Tamaulipas, where the group was attacked at gunpoint on Friday, according to State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Gov. Américo Villarreal stated during a press conference in Mexico on Tuesday afternoon that the remains will be sent to US officials when the autopsies were finished.
A 24-year-old suspect is in police custody, Villarreal added.
"We are offering them and their families all necessary aid. We send our most sincere sympathies to the deceased's family and friends "stated Price.
To guarantee that justice is served, he continued, "We appreciate our Mexican and American law enforcement allies for their efforts to discover these innocent victims."
On Tuesday morning, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador committed to working for the victims' justice.
The culprits will be identified and punished, according to López Obrador.
U.S officials will continue to collaborate with Mexican law enforcement
The news coming out of Mexico on Tuesday was mostly avoided by U.S. officials, who instead claimed they would give more specific information as soon as they had it.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters at the Justice Department, "I want to convey my heartfelt sympathy to the families of the Americans who were attacked and kidnapped during this terrible time.
The Justice Department, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security were praised by John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, for their "quick reaction to this horrible tragedy and for their continuous coordination with Mexican authorities."
Attacks on American people are wrong no matter where they take place or the circumstances surrounding them, he continued. And to make sure that justice is served in this matter, we'll work closely with the Mexican authorities.
Meanwhile, information concerning the inquiry and the suffering the victims went through while they were held prisoner has been considerably more openly provided by Mexican authorities.
What do we know so far?
The trio arrived in Matamoros, Mexico, from Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan with North Carolina plates. According to the mayor of the city, they are all natives of Lake City, South Carolina.
According to Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica, the Americans arrived in the city on Friday at 9:18 a.m.
The four reportedly embarked on the road trip so that at least one of them could have a belly tuck in Matamoros, according to family and friends. But, they had just been in the city for two hours when they were killed by gunshots.
According to Barrios Mojica, the gunmen attacked the minivan at around 11:45 a.m. At least one Mexican national was killed in the violent attack. According to the FBI, the shooters put all four of them in another car before driving away.
The group was relocated to many different sites over the course of the following several days, including a clinic, "in an effort to create confusion and thwart the rescue operations," Villarreal said.
The Tamaulipas attorney general stated on Tuesday that although Mexican law enforcement is looking into every avenue, it appears that Americans were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The most plausible and probably accurate hypothesis, according to Barrios Mojica, is that it was confusion rather than a direct attack.
The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of those responsible and the release of the victims after the kidnapping spurred a frenzied hunt by law enforcement officials in both nations.
Barbara Burgess, LaTavia Washington McGee's mother, told ABC 15 that her daughter has been scarred by the terrible experience.
Burgess described her daughter, who is being treated in a hospital in Texas, as weeping.
"I enquired about her well-being. She's doing OK. She was sobbing because she had seen her brother die and was responsible for his death. She saw two of them pass away. They passed away before her, "stated Burgess.
The Associated Press was informed by Zalandria Brown that her brother Zindell had traveled with a buddy who was having a tummy tuck.
She added, "This is like a nightmare you wish you could wake up from. "It is absolutely awful to witness a member of your family being placed in the back of a vehicle and dragged."
Brother of Eric Williams Robert Williams told NPR he can't picture his younger brother going through such a terrifying ordeal.
"He enjoys having fun. He is a poet, composer, and rapper "stated Williams. "If you know him, he's the life of the party," someone said.
"Tell him I love him," he said, "is all I want to say."
The gang was reportedly caught in the crossfire of opposing drug organizations, according to Mexican officials, the AP writes.
Drug cartel wars have tormented several sections of Mexico for years; Tamaulipas state in particular is regarded as one of the most dangerous regions in the nation.
Due to crime and abduction, the U.S. State Department warns Americans against visiting the region, adding that criminal organizations frequently target public and private passenger cars, "grabbing passengers and demanding ransom payments."
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