According to the FBI, four Americans who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border from Texas were shot, held at gunpoint, and possibly kidnapped.
Special Agent Oliver Rich, head of the FBI’s San Antonio division, announced Sunday that the office was seeking public assistance in locating four U.S. citizens who were last seen in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, which borders the northern Mexico.
They have been missing since Friday 3 March.
“On March 3, 2023, four Americans entered Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico driving a white minivan with North Carolina plates. Shortly after entering Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired at the passengers in the vehicle. All Four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said in a statement.
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The Gateway International Bridge between Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico seen through the border wall. Seen from the side of the Texas wall. (Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Matamoros is located along the US-Mexico border, just across from Brownsville, Texas.
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Investigators from the FBI and its federal partners, as well as Mexican law enforcement agencies, are assisting in the search for the victims.
Matamoros is notorious for warring factions of the Gulf drug cartel, and Friday’s violence was so bad that the US consulate has issued an alert.
Federal police escort travelers crossing the dangerous highway in the gang-infested northeastern state of Tamaulipas from the U.S. border on December 16, 2015. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Border Patrol patrols the bank of the Rio Grande near the Gateway International Bridge, between the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, March 16, 2021, in Brownsville, Texas. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Tamaulipas State Police also said a number of people were killed or injured the same day, but did not provide details on how many were affected.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the Americans and the arrest of those responsible.
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Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to call the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741.
A member of the National Guard guards the entrance to a property called “La Bartolina” in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, on Aug. 23, 2021. (ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)
Tips can also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov. These suggestions may be submitted anonymously.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
