The four
U.S. citizens—Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, Eric Williams, and Latavia "Tay" McGee—were all
African American residents of the
state of
South Carolina.[3][4] On the morning of 3 March 2023, they crossed
the border for McGee to undergo a cosmetic surgical procedure. Shortly after, their minivan was intercepted by a group of gunmen in central Matamoros and the four were bundled onto the bed of a
pickup truck.[5] A Mexican bystander, Arely Pablo Servando, was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet during the abduction.[6][7] According to Tamaulipas Governor
Américo Villarreal, the cartel moved the kidnapped victims around in an effort to create confusion and avoid efforts to rescue them, and took them to a
medical clinic at some point.[8]
On 7 March 2023, the missing Americans were located by security forces in El Tecolote, an ejido 10 km (6.2 mi) southeast of where they had been abducted in Matamoros.[9] Woodard and Brown were dead. Williams had three gunshot wounds to his leg and McGee had no physical injuries; the two were taken to the border shortly after their discovery and hospitalized in
Texas.[10][11] A 24-year-old male from
Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas, allegedly found guarding them, was taken into custody[5][12] and
charged with aggravated kidnapping.[13]
In the early morning of 9 March, five men with their hands tied were found abandoned at the site of the original abduction in downtown Matamoros.[14][13] An accompanying message, purportedly from the Grupo Escorpión faction of the
Gulf Cartel, identified them as the perpetrators and extended an apology to the families of the victims on both sides of the border and to the people of Matamoros in general.[15][16][17] The five were later charged by the state prosecution service with aggravated kidnapping and homicide.[13]
In response,
PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador described any form of foreign interference as "an offense to the people of Mexico" and threatened to launch an information campaign asking
Mexicans and
Latinos in the United States not to vote for
Republican officials until they stopped threatening to intervene in the country.[18] Some opposition politicians and
human rights activists expressed indignation at the speed with which the missing Americans were located, in contrast to the many thousands of other victims of
forced disappearances in the country whose cases remain unsolved.[19]
Prior to the incident, the
state of Tamaulipas and five others were already on the
U.S. State Department's "Do Not Travel" advisory list.[20][21] On 11 March, in response to the Matamoros kidnappings and the disappearance of three women from Texas in the same area in late February, the
Texas Department of Public Safety urged people in the state to refrain from traveling anywhere in Mexico during the upcoming
spring break holiday because of ongoing drug cartel violence and other criminal activity.[22][23]