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Breaking news, american tourists killed after being kidnapped in mexico id’d as shaeed woodard and zindell brown.

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LAKE CITY, S.C. —The two Americans who were found dead in Mexico after  being kidnapped at gunpoint  during a terrifying shootout between rival cartel gangs were identified Tuesday as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.

Woodard and Brown had traveled from South Carolina to Mexico with Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams so McGee, a mother of six, could undergo a tummy tuck procedure, relatives said.

But shortly after the foursome crossed the border Friday into the crime-ridden city of Matamoros, located in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, realized they were lost.

The group couldn’t find the doctor’s office where McGee, 33, was due for surgery that Friday,  CNN reported , and poor cell service in the region made it harder for them to communicate with the doctor’s office.

While trying to sort out their location, the four became caught in the middle of a violent cartel showdown.

Four US citizens from South Carolina were abducted in Matamoros

• Gulf Cartel apologizes, turns over 5 members tied to Americans’ deadly kidnapping
• Mexico kidnapping survivor saw friends ‘killed right in front of him’: cousin
• Friend of kidnapped Americans reveals how she dodged Mexico ordeal

Harrowing video of the shootout shows the moment the group was forced into the back of a pickup truck in broad daylight after being shot at.

Tamaulipas state chief prosecutor Irving Barrios said he believes the deadly ambush was a result of “confusion, not a direct attack.”

Matamoros’ sinister reputation for ruthless organized crime had led to initial speculation that the abduction was drug-related, but a source close to the investigation told the Dallas Morning News on Monday that the Americans may have been mistaken for Haitian smugglers.

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McGee and Williams survived the attack  and were rushed Tuesday to Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of ambulances and SUVs escorted by Mexican military Humvees and national guard trucks with mounted .50-caliber machine guns.

Williams was shot in the left leg but the wound was not life-threatening, Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said. McGee survived the ordeal without physical injuries. 

Local authorities will examine the bodies of Woodard and Brown before they are repatriated to the US, the governor added.

The tourists were found in a shack in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Tecolote, on the way to the Gulf coast known as “Bagdad Beach,” Barrios said.

A photo of McGee taken shortly after she was rescued shows her covered in dirt with no shoes, with a traumatized look on her face.

Villarreal said they were being guarded by a man who has been arrested.

He added that the abducted Americans had been moved around by their captors, and at one point were taken to a medical clinic “to create confusion and avoid efforts to rescue them.”

McGee and Woodard were first cousins, their aunt Retha Darby told The Post from her home in South Carolina on Tuesday before news broke of Woodard’s death. 

She said her niece had told her about the medical procedure.

“She came by and visit me. She said, ‘I’m gonna be going to get surgery.’ I said, ‘Surgery on what?’ She said tummy tuck. She said, ‘My tummy getting too big.’ That was about a week ago,” Darby recalled of her last conversation with her 33-year-old niece.

“I didn’t know where she was going. I thought it was somewhere local.”

Darby, 72, is recovering from a stroke and is mostly confined to her Lake City home with a nurse. She said she shares a close bond with her niece, who regularly comes to visit her.

“She’s nice to me and everybody I know,” Darby said of McGee, noting that she is a good mom whose children adore her.

“She liked to dress well. Nice clothes. Hair fixed. Her face all done up,” she said.

Darby said she last spoke to her nephew, Woodard, “a couple weeks ago.”

“I try to keep him doing the right thing, but I can’t do so much because I can’t get around so much,” she explained tearfully. “I wish I could help them.”

Robert Williams said the news that his brother Eric survived the kidnapping was “quite a relief.”

“I look forward to seeing him again and actually being able to talk to him,” he said.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said he wants “to see accountability for the violence that has been inflicted on these Americans that tragically led to the death of two of them.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration is “working with Mexican officials to learn more and to have all Americans returned to the United States.”

“President Biden has been kept updated on this incident,” she said. “We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, meanwhile, criticized the US media for its coverage of the ordeal. “It’s not like that when they kill Mexicans in the United States,” he said of the press. “They go quiet like mummies.”

The kidnapping comes as Republican politicians have called for a more comprehensive response to cartel violence in northern Mexico that sometimes spills across the border.

US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Monday he wants to “put Mexico on notice,” and plans to introduce legislation that would classify some Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The move would allow the US to use military force against cartels.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said López Obrador is “being held hostage” by cartels.

“It’s pretty close at this stage to a failed narco-state. They can use violence and oceans of cash to corrupt the government. The government has no will, and it doesn’t have the ability to deal with the cartels,” he told Fox News.

Barr said Mexican authorities should “stand aside” and let US forces take over if they won’t tackle the cartels head-on. 

Additional reporting by Jesse O’Neill

With Post wires

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Suspect arrested in death of Mexico ‘tummy tuck’ tourists as US vows ‘justice will be done’

The group was taken hostage on friday after entering the state of tamaulipas in matamoros – an area dominated by the gulf cartel, article bookmarked.

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The FBI and Mexican authorities have made an arrest in the deaths of two American citizens killed in the state of Matamoros.

The tragic news was revealed on a televised call between Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday. Another person was found wounded while a fourth was unharmed — they are back in the US, according to the Tamaulipas Attorney General.

The group was identified by family on Monday as Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, who were killed in the abduction, and Eric James Williams and Latavia “Tay” McGee . They were taken hostage on Friday (3 March) after entering the state of Tamaulipas in Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf cartel.

Ms McGee was unharmed while Mr Williams suffered a gunshot wound on his leg but is expected to recover. They’ve both returned to the US.

A suspect, 24-year-old Jose “N,” has been arrested. The man was tasked with making sure the victims didn’t escape during the three-day kidnapping and he was captured at the scene on Tuesday, Mr Villareal said.

The American citizens came under fire from a group of armed men and were then bundled into the back of a pickup truck. A family member of one of the victims has said that they travelled from South Carolina to Matamoros because one of them was getting a tummy tuck there.

US officials familiar with the investigation told CNN that authorities believe a Mexican cartel mistook the victims for Haitian drug smugglers.

They were found at a stash house in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Longoreño on the way to the local beach known as Playa Baghdad, a source close to the investigation told the AP. Pictures by the AP showed the rescue.

Mr López Obrador said that one person has been arrested and the FBI continues to work along with Mexican authorities in the case. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby decried the attack on the American citizens and vowed to get justice for their families.

“We appreciate the hard work of the Justice Department the FBI and the DEA and the Department of Homeland Security … we’re grateful for their swift response to this dreadful incident and for their continued collaboration with Mexican authorities,” Mr Kirby told reporters.

“We’re going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”

When asked whether the White House was considering policy changes in response to the attack, Mr Kirby said that there were no immediate remedies but insisted US authorities are working extensively to get the fatal victim’s bodies and the survivors back on American soil.

”Right now our focus is very squarely on these four Americans and the families that have been affected by the attack and I think you’ll hear more from the Justice Department as they learn more and can have more to share,” he added. “But it’s just too soon for me to be able to speak to any policy changes or, or vectors as a result of this attack.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that any attacks on American citizens under any circumstances were unacceptable.

Ms Jean-Pierre said more information will be released after family members of the two fatal victims and two kidnapping survivors are updated by US officials on any developments made in the case.

She also noted that the Biden administration remains committed to “disrupting transnational criminal organizations including Mexican drug cartels and human smugglers.”

“We remain committed to applying the full weight of our efforts and resources to counter them,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

“Right now. our immediate concerns are for the safe return of our citizens, the health and well-being of those who survived this attack, and the support which must be rendered to the families of those who need it.”

Mexican officials said that the two surviving Americans are back on US soil.

Mr Lopez Obrador also claimed that the tragedy will be seized by the American media to portray Mexico as a dangerous country, in stark contrast with their “silence when Mexicans are killed in the US.” He went on to say that GOP politicians will also use the crime as an opportunity to push “their agenda.”

“We continue to work every day towards peace and are very sorry that this has happened in our country,” President López Obrador said during the press conference.

“We send our condolences to the victims’ friends and family and the American people. And we will continue to work towards peace.”

The group of four were travelling in a white minivan with North Carolina licence plates when they crossed the US border into Mexico on 3 March.

Ms McGee’s mother Barbara Burgess said she was worried about her daughter going and warned her it might not be safe. But, her daughter brushed off her concerns telling her: “Ma, I’ll be okay”.

Ms Burgess last heard from Ms McGee on Friday when she called to say that they were just 15 minutes from the cosmetic surgeon’s office where she was scheduled to have the procedure that day. She never heard from her daughter again.

Ms Burgess said she tried calling Ms McGee later that day but her phone went straight to voicemail.

Not long later, she said she received a visit from an FBI agent, revealing what had happened.

Mr Brown’s sister Zalandria Brown told the AP that the situation felt like a “bad dream” as she revealed that her younger brother had voiced concerns about travelling to such a dangerous place.

“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,’” she said.

But Mr Brown, a 28-year-old living in Myrtle Beach, still went on the trip with his three friends – in part because they had all agreed to help share driving duties.

“This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” said Ms Brown. “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.”

Mr Brown’s mother Christina Hickson told WPDE she “immediately” recognised him in the disturbing video circulating on social media.

The video, which has not been verified, shows armed men loading four people into the bed of a white pickup truck.

While one individual is moving and sitting upright, the other three are merely dragged limp into the vehicle.

Mr Williams’ North Carolina diver’s license was found at the scene of the abduction, reported ABC News.

The US State Department is advising Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas due to the risk of crime and kidnapping. The region is on the “Level 4: Do Not Travel” list.

The border city of Matamoros is largely controlled by the Gulf drug cartel, with violence and migrant smuggling rife.

A reward of $50,000 had been offered for information leading to the return of the victims and the arrest of the kidnappers.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 or to submit tips anonymously online at https://tips.fbi.gov

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Three surfers on a dream trip to Mexico were brutally killed. Here’s what we know

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A trio of tourists on a surfing trip in Mexico were living an idyllic life. They were posting photos of themselves on the beach, on rooftops, drinking beer, listening to music as they explored the country’s scenic coastline.

Then, they disappeared.

Here’s what we know about what happened:

Who were they?

The men who were killed were Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 33, his brother Jake, 30 , and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30.

Callum was a high-level lacrosse player. He played Division III college lacrosse at Stevenson University in Maryland.

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Mexican officials say three bodies are found in the Baja California area where two Australian brothers and their American friend went missing while on a surf trip.

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“He lived an extraordinary life, but what is most impressive about Callum is what a loyal friend he was. Once you were his friend, you were friends for life,” said Stevenson University lacrosse team coach Paul Cantabene.

“My heart is shattered into a million pieces,” wrote Callum Robinson’s girlfriend, Emily Horwath, in an Instagram post.

His brother Jake was a doctor, and Jack Carter Rhoad founded an online apparel company in San Diego called Loma Apparel. He also worked for a consulting company called ITCO Solutions.

Rhoad had recently proposed to his girlfriend, and his final Facebook post, from July 2023, showed pictures of the proposal.

What were they doing in Mexico?

The three men were on a surfing trip in Baja California and were expected to check into an Airbnb in Rosarito on April 27 but never showed up, according to Debra Robinson, Callum and Jake’s mother.

The three arrived in Mexico on April 26 for their idyllic beachside trip. Callum Robinson posted photos of the trio drinking beer on a rooftop, as well as pictures of the men at the beach and in a rooftop Jacuzzi.

3 bodies in Mexican well identified as Australian and American surfers killed for tires

Mexican authorities say three suspects killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip in Baja California to steal tires from their truck.

May 5, 2024

Their disappearance triggered a manhunt and investigation by local Mexican police, the FBI and the Mexican marines.

What happened?

Mexican authorities have determined that the three men were killed by thieves who were looking to steal their white pickup truck in order to sell its tires.

The Chevrolet truck was posted in the first picture Callum Robinson shared when the men arrived in Baja California on April 26. It had a California license plate.

The bodies of the victims were found about 4 miles from where they were killed, just south of the city of Ensenada. A tent the men were staying in, as well as their burned-out truck, was found nearby.

María Elena Andrade Ramírez, chief state prosecutor of the state of Baja California, said investigators discovered their bodies 50 feet deep in a remote well.

Inside the well was a fourth cadaver as well, she said.

Three Mexicans are being held in connection with the case, the prosecutor said.

This gentrifying Mexico City neighborhood has a Soho House — and a migrant encampment

An encampment in the Juarez neighborhood of Mexico City shows how migration is impacting countries south of the U.S. border.

May 7, 2024

What does it mean for tourists?

The killings have set off pitched discussions over safety as well as the prioritization of solving the homicides of other tourists killed in Mexico.

On the Talk Baja Facebook group, concerned surfers and potential visitors to the Northern Mexico state have discussed whether they should still visit the area.

The U.S. State Department said in its 2023 report that Americans should “reconsider” travel to Baja California due to kidnapping and crime. The “reconsider” category is the second-worst category, after the department’s “do not travel to” recommendation.

More to Read

Testimony details alleged motives in Mexico surfer slayings: ‘Money, devices and the pickup’

May 9, 2024

Three friends drove from California to Mexico for a surfing trip. Then they disappeared

May 3, 2024

U.S. couple likely thrown overboard by boat hijackers are dead, Grenada police say

Feb. 27, 2024

Foreigners among 45 dead from Hurricane Otis in Mexico, as search for bodies continues

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After possible shark attack, stunned friends mourn ‘full of life’ kiteboarder

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Mexican investigators find decapitated, burned bodies possibly linked to grisly video

Aug. 17, 2023

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Noah Goldberg covers breaking news for the Los Angeles Times. He worked previously in New York City as the Brooklyn courts reporter for the New York Daily News, covering major criminal trials as well as working on enterprise stories. Before that, he was the criminal justice reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle.

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Survivors of deadly Mexico kidnapping being treated at Texas hospital

Two Americans are back on U.S. soil after surviving a deadly abduction in Mexico that left two others dead. Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said the four were found in a wooden shack, where they were being guarded by a man who was arrested. (March 7)

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says “attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable,” following the death of two Americans in Mexico after the group they were traveling with was kidnapped at gunpoint. (March 7)

A Red Cross worker closes the door of an ambulance carrying two Americans found alive after their abduction in Mexico last week, in Matamoros, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Two of four Americans whose abduction in Mexico was captured in a video that showed them caught in a cartel shootout have been found dead, officials said Tuesday. The two surviving Americans were taken to the border near Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of Mexican ambulances and SUVs. (AP Photo)

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An American woman, abducted in Mexico last week, sits inside an ambulance after she was found alive in Ejido Longoreno, on the outskirts of Matamoros, Mexico, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Two of four Americans whose abduction in Mexico was captured in a video that showed them caught in a cartel shootout have been found dead, officials said Tuesday. The two surviving Americans, one wounded, were taken to the border near Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of Mexican ambulances and SUVs. (AP Photo)

Gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week to buy medicine and got caught in a shootout.

A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes, at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas, Friday, March 3, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. (AP Photo)

A Mexican Red Cross ambulance transports two Americans found alive after their abduction in Mexico last week, in Ejido Longoreno, on the outskirts of Matamoros, Mexico, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Two of four Americans abducted March 3 when they got caught in a cartel shootout were found dead while the two surviving Americans, one wounded, were transported in an ambulance to the border near Brownsville, Texas. (AP Photo)

FBI units escort two Brownsville Fire Department EMS Ambulances through Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates with two surviving U.S. citizens being transported to Valley Regional Medical Center Tuesday, March 7, 2023 in Brownsville, Texas. A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery ended with two Americans dead — and two others found alive in a rural area near the Gulf coast — after a violent shootout and abduction that was captured on video, officials said Tuesday. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

A Mexican Red Cross ambulance transports two Americans found alive after their abduction in Mexico last week to a Brownsville Fire Department EMS Ambulances through Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates in Brownsville, Texas, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery ended with two Americans dead — and two others found alive in a rural area near the Gulf coast — after a violent shootout and abduction that was captured on video, officials said Tuesday. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

Brownsville Fire Department EMS Ambulances drive through Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates with two surviving U.S. citizens being transported to Valley Regional Medical Center, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Brownsville, Texas, after having been kidnapped and shot at by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico. The March 3 shooting left two other Americans dead. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

Two FBI vehicles escort two Brownsville Fire Department EMS Ambulances through Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates with two surviving U.S. citizens being transported to Valley Regional Medical Center, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Brownsville, Texas, after having been kidnapped and shot at by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico. The March 3 shooting left two other Americans dead. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)

Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen at Matamoros, Mexico, Monday, March 6, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. (AP Photo)

Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico, Monday, March 6, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. (AP Photo)

Mexican Natioanla Guard prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen at Matamoros, Mexico, Monday, March 6, 2023. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. (AP Photo)

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery veered violently off course when four Americans were caught in a drug cartel shootout, leaving two dead and two held captive for days in a remote region of the Gulf coast before they were rescued from a wood shack, officials said Tuesday.

Their minivan crashed and was fired on shortly after they crossed into the border city of Matamoros on Friday as drug cartel factions tore through the streets, the region’s governor said. A stray bullet also killed a Mexican woman about a block and a half away.

The four Americans were hauled off in a pickup truck, and Mexican authorities frantically searched as the cartel moved them around — even taking them to a medical clinic — “to create confusion and avoid efforts to rescue them,” Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said.

They were found Tuesday in a wooden shack, guarded by a man who was arrested, in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Tecolote on the way to the Gulf called “Bagdad Beach,” according to the state’s chief prosecutor, Irving Barrios.

The surviving Americans were whisked back to U.S. soil on Tuesday in Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas and just across the border from Matamoros. The convoy of ambulances and SUVs was escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns.

A relative of one of the victims said Monday that the four had traveled together from the Carolinas so one of them could get a tummy tuck surgery from a doctor in Matamoros.

The governor said the wounded American, Eric Williams, had been shot in the left leg and the injury was not life threatening.

“It’s quite a relief,” said Robert Williams, 38-year-old Eric’s brother, reached by phone Tuesday in North Carolina. “I look forward to seeing him again and actually being able to talk to him.”

Robert Williams was not sure if the other survivor, Latavia Burgess, was the one seeking the surgery.

The survivors were taken to Valley Regional Medical Center with an FBI escort, the Brownsville Herald reported . A spokesperson for the hospital referred all inquiries to the FBI.

The two dead — Shaeed Woodard, age 33, and Zindell Brown, in his mid-20s — will be turned over to U.S. authorities following forensic work at the Matamoros morgue, the governor said.

Video and photographs taken during and immediately after Friday’s abduction show the Americans’ white minivan sitting beside another vehicle, with at least one bullet hole in the driver’s side window. A witness said the two vehicles had collided. Almost immediately, several men with tactical vests and assault rifles arrived in another vehicle to surround the scene.

The Mexican authorities’ hypothesis is “that it was confusion, not a direct attack,” the state prosecutor said.

The gunmen walked one of the Americans into the bed of a white pickup, then dragged and loaded up the three others. Terrified civilian motorists sat silently in their cars, hoping not to draw attention. Two of the victims appeared to be motionless.

The shootings illustrate the terror that has prevailed for years in Matamoros, a city dominated by factions of the powerful Gulf drug cartel who often fight among themselves . Amid the violence, thousands of Mexicans have disappeared in Tamaulipas state alone.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the people responsible would be punished. He referenced arrests in the 2019 killings of nine U.S.-Mexican dual citizens in Sonora near the U.S. border.

López Obrador complained about the U.S. media’s coverage of the missing Americans, accusing them of sensationalism. He said that when Mexicans are killed, the media “go quiet like mummies.”

“We really regret that this happens in our country,” he said, adding that the U.S. government has every right to be upset by the violence.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland put blame for the deaths squarely on the drug cartels

“The DEA and the FBI are doing everything possible to dismantle and disrupt and ultimately prosecute the leaders of the cartels and the entire networks that they depend on” Garland said.

The FBI had offered a $50,000 reward for the victims’ return and the arrest of the abductors.

Robert Williams said in a telephone interview that he and his brother Eric are from South Carolina but now live in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina.

Williams described his brother as “easygoing” and “fun-spirited.”

He didn’t know his brother was traveling to Mexico until after the abduction hit the news. But from looking at his brother’s Facebook posts, he thinks his brother did not consider the trip dangerous.

“He thought it would be fun,” Williams said.

When told that his brother was among the survivors Tuesday, Williams said that when they meet, “I’ll just tell him how happy I am to see him, and how glad I am that he made it through, and that I love him.”

Loller reported from Nashville. AP writers Lindsay Whitehurst, Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Mexico wants American extradited on charges in tourist death

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a U.S. woman suspected of killing another American seen being beaten in a viral video.

Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur did not name the suspect in the Oct. 29 death of Shanquella Robinson.

But on Thursday, they said they had approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get the woman extradited to face charges in Mexico.

Robinson’s death at a resort development in San Jose del Cabo shocked people in both countries. The video raised suspicions that Robinson may have died at the hands of people she was traveling with.

Local prosecutor Antonio López Rodríguez said the case was being treated as a potential homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect. The group Robinson was traveling with, however, left Mexico after she was found dead in a rented villa.

More on this story

• The mother of Shanquella Robinson, the 25-year-old woman who was found dead in Mexico, said Black social media users are to thank for amplifying her daughter’s case.
• The FBI is investigating death of North Carolina woman in Mexico as family demands answers.
• Video: Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral for Robinson

State prosecutor Daniel de la Rosa Anaya said the suspect was also an American, but did not identify her.

News outlets in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that the people Robinson was traveling with gave differing versions of how she died, but that an autopsy revealed she died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury.

A video apparently taped at the luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman identified as Robinson.

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying, “Can you at least fight back?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

Mother of Mexico shooting survivor says Americans traveled for surgery; abduction probe continues: Updates

Two Americans were dead, two were back in the U.S. and many questions remained unanswered Wednesday after a bizarre shooting rampage, abduction and rescue in a Mexican border city.

Irving Barrios, attorney general in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, said that no ransom was demanded after Friday's assault and that a preliminary investigation indicated the U.S. travelers were victims of mistaken identity. They were found Tuesday around 8 a.m. in a shack outside Matamoros, Barrios said. 

A suspect standing guard over them, identified only as Jose Guadalupe N., 24, was arrested. Authorities were searching for others involved, and the FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for their arrest.

The mother of one of the survivors told ABC News her daughter was in Mexico for the cosmetic surgery known as a "tummy tuck.'' U.S. and Mexican authorities continued to investigate the incident. 

"Investigation and intelligence work continues to capture those responsible," Barrios tweeted. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed that the Justice Department would be "relentless in pursuing justice" on behalf of the Americans.

Americo Villarreal, governor of Tamaulipas, said the four  Americans had crossed into Mexico 2½ hours before the shootout erupted in Matamoros. The cartel moved the hostages around to try to evade teams sent to rescue them, Villarreal said.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR MATAMOROS?: With 2 Americans dead, the cartel-scarred Mexican border town  ponders its future

Matamoros, a cartel-scarred Mexican border city, wonders what's next 

The attacks highlight how abductions, killings or other violence can plague a Mexican community but draw little public outcry when they involve Mexicans or migrants. And with details about the Americans' deadly venture still scarce, it was unclear how either law enforcement or regular travel could be affected by the case going forward.  

To have cartel gunmen shoot and kidnap Americans without provocation seems like a departure from their modus operandi, said Brendon Tucker, who lived and worked in Matamoros in 2019 helping asylum-seekers through an advocacy agency. 

"I would be absolutely blown away if they were targeted on purpose," Tucker said. Cartels "are going to do everything in their power not to put their foot in the ant pile that is the United States government. ... There is no way for a cartel to have done this for it to be beneficial to them." Read more here .

– Chris Kenning, Rick Jervis and Kevin Johnson

Opinion: Mexican drug cartels are terrorizing Americans. Here's how the US needs to fight back.

Will killings, abductions discourage travel to Mexico? 

With its warm climate, beautiful beaches and proximity to the U.S., Mexico is a popular tourist destination for many Americans. But some people may be reconsidering their travel plans after  the events of the past week .

Nearly 29 million Americans traveled to Mexico in 2021, according to data researcher Statista. About 75 American citizens died by homicide in Mexico that year, according to the most recent U.S. State Department statistics.

"I’m sure people will have some pause after such a graphic and horrible incident," said Gabby Beckford, a Seattle-based travel influencer who took a two-month excursion across Mexico last year. "This will remind me not to be lax about my safety precautions and to always be mindful of my surroundings." Read more here .

– Kathleen Wong and Terry Collins

Convoy whisked surviving Americans back to US

The surviving Americans were returned to the U.S. on Tuesday, crossing the border back into Brownsville, Texas. The convoy of ambulances and SUVs was escorted by Mexican military Humvees and National Guard trucks with mounted machine guns. One of the survivors, identified as Eric Williams, 38, had been shot in a leg. The other survivor was identified as Latavia McGee. She was unharmed.

Barrios said the bodies of the two deceased Americans – identified by authorities as Shaeed Woodard, 33, and Zindell Brown, in his 20s – remained in Mexico pending autopsies to determine the time and cause of death.

TIMELINE FOR CHAOS: Retracing the steps of a violent kidnapping after 2 Americans found dead in Mexico

Victims' families say the Americans went to Mexico for surgery 

Barbara Burgess, McGee's mother, told ABC News her daughter was going for tummy-tuck surgery. Burgess said she had warned her daughter not to go, but McGee told her: "Ma, I'll be OK."

Robert Williams, Eric's brother, told The Associated Press that he and his brother are from South Carolina but now live in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. Williams described his brother as “easygoing” and “fun-spirited.”

He didn’t know his brother was traveling to Mexico until after the abduction hit the news. From looking at his brother’s Facebook posts, Williams said, he believes his brother did not consider the trip dangerous but "thought it would be fun."

When told that his brother was among the survivors Tuesday, Williams said that when they meet, “I’ll just tell him how happy I am to see him, and how glad I am that he made it through, and that I love him.”

VICTIMS  IDENTIFIED: 2 kidnapped Americans found dead in Mexico, 2 survivors have returned to the US

How did the abductions unfold?

The Americans crossed the border in a minivan with North Carolina license plates, according to Mexican officials and Special Agent Oliver Rich, who is in charge of the FBI's San Antonio Division. The unidentified gunmen opened fire before the four Americans were placed in a pickup and rushed away. A 33-year-old woman about a block and a half away was killed by a stray bullet, Barrios said.

A video posted to social media Friday showed men with assault rifles and body armor loading the four people into the bed of a white pickup in broad daylight. One was alive and sitting up, but the others appeared either dead or wounded. At least one person appeared to lift their head from the pavement before being dragged to the truck.

A woman driving in Matamoros who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal told The Associated Press she witnessed what appeared to be the shooting and abduction. 

“All of a sudden (the gunmen) were in front of us,” she said. “I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing: ‘If we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.’”

Contributing: The Associated Press

• International

March 8, 2023 Survivors of deadly Mexico kidnapping back in US

By Adrienne Vogt , Aditi Sangal and Elise Hammond , CNN

A timeline of how the kidnapping of 4 Americans in Mexico unfolded

From CNN Staff

Two of the Americans who were  kidnapped at gunpoint in a Mexican border city  on Friday have returned to the US and are being treated at a hospital, while the remains of the two Americans who were killed are expected to be repatriated back to the US soon.

Here's a timeline of what happened :

Driving into Mexico: A tight-knit group of four friends — LaTavia Washington McGee, Eric Williams, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown — had driven to Mexico from South Carolina so Washington McGee could undergo a medical procedure in Matamoros, two family members told CNN. The group crossed into Matamoros at about 9:18 a.m. Friday, Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said.

Getting lost on the way: After becoming lost on their way to the clinic, the friends tried to reach the doctor’s office for directions but were having difficulty because of a poor phone signal, a close friend said.

The kidnapping: At some point as the friends were driving, unidentified gunmen fired on their minivan and then loaded the Americans into their vehicle and took them away, according to the FBI. A Mexican official said Tuesday that the gunmen were driving a pickup truck.

A video obtained by CNN that matches the description of the incident shows a woman and other unidentified people being roughly loaded into a white pickup. The video showed the woman being pulled or pushed onto the bed of the truck by two unidentified people as a third armed man watches before the men appear to drag at least two limp people onto the truck bed. CNN has not independently confirmed it is the four Americans who are shown in the video.

Authorities start investigating: When Mexican authorities arrived on the scene, they noticed the Americans’ van had North Carolina license plates and reached out to US officials, who were able to run the plates, according to Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica.

Investigators began processing vehicles, obtaining ballistics and fingerprint data, taking biological samples for genetic profiles and gathering surveillance camera footage, Mexican officials said.

Gunmen identified: Police were able to identify the gunmen’s truck, Barrios Mojica said. Officials then initiated “several searches” with different agencies, he said.

Americans found: The Americans were finally found at a house outside Matamoros on Tuesday morning, the attorney general said. At the scene, two of the friends – Woodard and Brown – were dead while Washington McGee and Williams were still alive.

Washington McGee is expected to come home Wednesday, her mother, Barbara McLeod Burgess, said in an interview with CNN. Williams was shot in the legs three times and was brought to a hospital in Texas to undergo surgery, his wife, Michele Williams, told CNN.

CNN’s Abel Alvarado, Sharif Paget, Amanda Jackson, Gloria Pazmino, Norma Galeana, David Shortell, Jennifer Hansler, Caroll Alvarado, Betsy Klein, Karol Suarez, Chenelle Woody, Paradise Afshar and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.

Here's what you need to know about safety while traveling in Mexico

From CNN's Marnie Hunter

The kidnapping and killing of US travelers this week in the Mexican city of Matamoros, just over the border from Brownsville, Texas, has put a glaring spotlight on violence in a country that millions of international visitors flock to each year.

Here’s what to know about travel safety in Mexico:

The US has “do not travel” advisories in place for six out of Mexico's 32 states: This includes the Tamaulipas state, where Matamoros is located. But that's far from some of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the country, according to Zachary Rabinor, founder and CEO of travel company Journey Mexico. “To put things in perspective, Matamoros is about 1,360 miles away from Cancun; that’s about the equivalent distance from the Texas side of the border to Chicago, Illinois.”

The US advises travelers to “exercise increased caution due to crime and kidnapping" in popular destinations like Playa del Carmen and Cancún. Rabinor highlighted other popular destinations carrying the “exercise increased caution” advisory, including France and the Bahamas. France receives the caution because of possible terrorism and civil unrest. Crime is listed as the reason for caution in the Bahamas.

The State Department notes in its advisory  that violence and criminal activity may occur anywhere, “including in popular tourist destinations.”

Caution and situational awareness are key all over the world. For Mexico, Lopez-Aranda recommends the following safety steps:

• Travel with a trusted driver in a private vehicle
• Go outside urban centers or in higher-risk locations only during daylight hours
• Avoid the trouble spots in major cities
• Avoid traveling alone
• Stay up-to-date through news and government alerts
• Keep your cell phone charged
• Research the security and medical risks of your destination
• Share all your plans with friends and family at home, and stay in constant communication
• Get insurance
• Keep copies of your documents, contact information for your country’s embassy or consulate and the location of the closest hospital with you

The mother of 6 who survived the attack was traveling to Mexico for a medical procedure

From CNN staff

Two of the four Americans who authorities say were  kidnapped in Mexico  have been found dead, according to the Tamaulipas governor. The two surviving Americans are now in the care of the FBI and have returned to the United States, an official familiar with the investigation tells CNN.

One of the survivors was Latavia Washington McGee, a mother of six children who was traveling to Mexico for the second time for a medical procedure , her mother, Barbara Burgess, said.

She traveled to the country for surgery about two to three years ago, Burgess said. But this time, Burgess was informed by the FBI on Sunday that her daughter had been kidnapped and was in danger.

Receipts found in the group’s vehicle indicated the Americans were in Mexico for medical procedures, a US official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

Washington McGee’s close friend told CNN the trip was for a cosmetic surgery. The group booked a hotel in Brownsville and planned to drive into Matamoros for the surgery, according to the friend.

A day after the kidnapping, the friend became concerned and reached out to the doctor’s office for more information.

“When I reached out to the doctor’s office they told me that Latavia had reached out to them to ask them for directions because she was lost,” the friend said. “They sent me a screenshot of the messages and they said they sent her the address and asked her if she was using a GPS.”

The disappearance of the four was reported to Brownsville police on Saturday, according to a police report. The report states that Brownsville Police checked a local jail to make sure that no one in the party had been taken into custody, but no other action was taken.

Mexico has become a particularly popular destination for  “medical tourism,”  attracting travelers who may be seeking cheaper alternatives or medical treatments that are unapproved or unavailable in the US. But  the CDC warns  the growing trend can carry dangerous risks depending on the destination and facility, including infection and possible post-procedure complications.

Matamoros, however, is “not considered a primary medical travel destination,” said Josef Woodman, the company’s founder, “largely because there are no internationally accredited medical centers/speciality clinics there, or in the immediate region.”

Watch here:

US law enforcement was not on the ground in search, Mexican official says

Before the four Americans were found Tuesday, federal and local Mexican authorities worked on the effort to locate the kidnapped Americans, and they had set up a joint task force to communicate with US officials, Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica said.

US law enforcement was not involved on the ground in Mexico in the search for the missing Americans, Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal said at a news conference Tuesday after two of the Americans were found alive and two were found dead.

At a news conference yesterday, Mexican officials displayed a timeline of the search, including photos of the cars believed to be used by the kidnappers, before they were found Tuesday morning. Mexico Secretary of Security Rosa Icela Rodríguez said that authorities in Mexico have been in constant communication with the US ambassador and other US officials since Sunday.

Also on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price thanked Mexican partners for facilitating the recovery of the Americans.

He also did not rule out designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations – something that some Republican lawmakers have called for – but said “we are always going to look at every tool that is by law or any other authority available to us to attempt to work with our Mexican partners to crack down on what is the threat to Mexicans and to Americans alike.”

Here's what we know about the 4 Americans kidnapped in Mexico

Investigators believe a Mexican cartel likely mistook them for Haitian drug smugglers, a US official said.

Here's what we know so far:

• Where things stand:  The two people who survived will receive medical attention and observations at a hospital in Texas, according to a source. One of the people who survived was severely injured. The bodies of the two others killed will be  examined by Mexican authorities  before the remains are turned over to the US government, a source said.
• What happened:  The group of friends traveled from South Carolina so one of them — a mother of six — could undergo  a medical procedure  across the border, according to two family members. A friend said the group got lost on the way to the doctor's office. They were “placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men” in the border city of Matamoros on Friday, according to the FBI. Investigators believe a Mexican cartel likely mistook them for  Haitian drug smugglers , a US official said.
• What we know about the Americans:  Latavia "Tay" Washington McGee drove to Mexico with Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and their friend Eric Williams, according to Washington McGee's mother Barbara Burgess. McGee and Williams survived the ordeal, according to a US official.This was the  second time  Washington McGee had gone to Mexico for a medical procedure, her mother said. The group grew up together in South Carolina and were bonded “like glue,” Brown’s sister Zalandria Brown told CNN. She added that she and her brother are also close.
• US response:  Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was  briefed by the FBI  on the kidnapping and the Justice Department is "working closely" with the US State Department on the case. The  White House  said it is working with the Mexican government to learn more about the incident. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said administration officials were in touch with family members.

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Woman mayor shot dead in Mexico day after Claudia Sheinbaum's historic presidential win

Updated on: June 4, 2024 / 3:06 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

The mayor of a town in western Mexico was killed on Monday, the regional government said, barely 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected the Latin American country's first woman president . Officials said the mayor's bodyguard was also killed in the attack.

The Michoacan state government condemned "the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa," the regional interior ministry said in a post on social media .

The murder of the woman mayor comes after Sheinbaum's landslide victory injected hope for change in a country riven by rampant gender-based violence .

Sanchez, who was elected mayor in 2021 elections, was gunned down on a public road, according to local media, with one outlet reporting she was shot 19 times outside of a gym. 

According to a statement from the Michoacan attorney general's office, Sanchez's bodyguard, identified as Jesús V., was also hit by the gunfire and died. The office said that they were attacked by gunmen inside a white truck who opened fire "from the moving vehicle and then escaped."   

Her Facebook profile says she is "defined by my preparation and the desire to make Cotija a better place to live."

Authorities have not given details on the murder, but said a security operation had been launched to arrest the killers.

The politician was previously kidnapped in September last year while leaving a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, which neighbors Michoacan.

Three days later the federal government said she had been found alive.

According to local media reports at the time, the kidnappers belonged to the powerful Jalisco Cartel - New Generation  (CJNG), who allegedly threatened the mayor for opposing the criminal group's takeover of her municipality's police force.

Michoacan is renowned for its tourist destinations and a thriving agro-export industry, but is also one of the most violent states in the country due to the presence of extortion and drug trafficking gangs. In March, three farmers were killed by a bomb apparently planted in a dirt road in Michoacan -- just days after Mexico's outgoing president acknowledged that an improvised explosive device  killed at least four soldiers  in what he called a "trap" likely set by a cartel.

Election marked by bloodshed

At least 23 political candidates were killed while campaigning before the elections -- including one mayoral hopeful whose  murder was captured on camera last week. Alfredo Cabrera's death came just one day after a mayoral candidate in the central Mexican state of Morelos was  murdered .

The week before that,  nine people were killed  in two attacks against mayoral candidates in the southern state of Chiapas. The two candidates survived.

Last month, six people,  including a minor and mayoral candidate  Lucero Lopez, were killed in an ambush after a campaign rally in the municipality of La Concordia, neighboring Villa Corzo.

One mayoral hopeful was  shot dead last month  just as she began campaigning.

Around 27,000 soldiers and National Guard members were deployed to reinforce security on election day.

• Drug Cartels

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Woman struck & killed by train in mexico while trying to take selfie, tragic death woman struck & killed by train ... while trying to take selfie.

A woman suffered a tragic accident in Mexico that ended with her losing her life -- this while trying to capture a photo while a train passed ... which ended up hitting and killing her.

As documented in new harrowing footage that's making the rounds ... a 29-year-old woman in Hidalgo, Mexico recently approached a railway track to take a selfie as the CPKC's Final Spike Steam Tour train plowed ahead at full speed.

While the train blasted its horn near the gathering fans -- who came together to witness the train on its famous journey from Canada to Mexico City, a major attraction for locals -- the woman didn't move far enough out of the way ... and she was struck straight in the head.

The woman instantly fell forward and went limp, clearly unconscious ... with bystanders immediately rushing to her aid -- but unfortunately, the damage had been done.

Reports say first responders who arrived at the scene pronounced her dead. Her family was reportedly with her at the train track in Hidalgo.

CPKC has confirmed an investigation is underway, adding in a statement ... "We are deeply saddened by this loss of life and wish to express our condolences to the woman’s family and loved ones."

They add, "For their own safety and that of the crews, all spectators looking at any train must always remain at least 10 meters back from the train and the tracks. Spectators must never stand on railway tracks, try to board rail equipment or climb on rail infrastructure.

Finally, CPKC said ... "Always use caution around tracks and trains." A cautionary tale, indeed.

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Mexican mayor, bodyguard killed by gunmen in ambush

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Vatican arrests ex-employee over sale of missing Bernini manuscript

Vatican police arrested a former employee for allegedly trying to sell to the city-state a 17th-century manuscript by Italian Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini that had previously disappeared from archives, a Vatican spokesman said.

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One of the Deadliest Jobs in Mexico: Running for Office

The assassination of Gisela Gaytán shocked Mexico. She was among dozens of aspirants for public office killed in recent months.

By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega and Simon Romero

Reporting from Celaya, one of dozens of municipalities across Mexico where local candidates have been killed.

Gisela Gaytán had just arrived at an event on the first day of her mayoral campaign in central Mexico’s industrial heartland when the gunfire broke out.

Moments later, her lifeless body lay crumpled in a pool of blood.

The assassination in broad daylight of Ms. Gaytán, a 37-year-old lawyer, reflects a gruesome trend in this year’s general election in Mexico. She figures among the 36 people killed since last summer while seeking public office, according to a New York Times analysis , making this one of the most blood-soaked election cycles in recent memory.

The candidate killings point to a threat at the core of Mexico’s democracy. Voters are preparing to cast ballots next month in a spirited election that could produce the country’s first female president, a milestone in the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country.

But analysts and law enforcement officials say that emboldened cartels are spreading fear in races at the local level as they expand their reach into extortion rackets, migrant trafficking and food production .

Heightening the sense of terror, not only candidates but their family members are being increasingly targeted, with at least 14 such relatives killed in recent months. Some cases have been especially gruesome; in Guerrero state, the dismembered bodies of a candidate for city council and his wife were found this month.

Armed groups are also turning some of the killings into mass shootings. In Chiapas state, gunmen this month killed a mayoral candidate and seven other people including the candidate’s sister and a young girl.

To maximize their profits, hydra-headed criminal groups need pliant elected officials. Threats and bribes can ensure that a small-town mayor or City Council member turns a blind eye to illicit activities. But as the bloodshed in cities around Mexico makes painfully clear, analysts say, candidates daring to veer from such cooperation face getting killed.

As a result, scores of them have dropped out of races. Some political parties have pulled out of certain towns after failing to find people willing to run. Instead of reaching out to voters in public, some local campaigns have largely moved online.

Nearly every week, more candidates are targeted. Since Ms. Gaytán’s death on April 1 stunned the city of Celaya, at least eight more have been killed around the country.

The attacks have intensified in states where gangs have splintered into multiple criminal groups, all of them fiercely competing for power. Another reason for so much carnage is the sheer size of this election. With more than 20,000 local posts up for grabs, it is Mexico’s largest ever.

Sandra Ley, a security analyst with the public policy group Mexico Evaluates, said the killings showed that organized crime groups were shielded by corrupt or intimidated local officials.

The cartels, Ms. Ley said, need “access to resources and information that is essential in their day-to-day operations.”

Despite the attacks, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and some in his governing Morena party have mostly downplayed the danger.

But the assassination of Ms. Gaytán, a member of Morena, rocked the country, and Mr. López Obrador addressed it the following day in his morning news conference.

“These events are very unfortunate because these are people who are fighting to uphold democracy,” he told reporters. But he also quickly suggested that the killing was tied to the high levels of violence in Guanajuato, the state where Celaya is, and not to Mexico’s election.

This past week, the Security Ministry said it was providing protection to 487 candidates.

Part of the rise in cartel violence, security experts say, has to do with the Mexican president’s own security strategy. Mr. López Obrador came to office in 2018 pledging to overhaul the country’s approach to crime, with an emphasis on addressing the poverty that drives young people to join gangs rather than aggressively confronting the cartels in the streets.

The plan, which Mr. López Obrador called “hugs, not bullets,” has had some success. It coincided with a decline in the mass killings that happened when security forces clashed with armed groups — although recent reports suggest there have been exceptions during his administration.

“But it had, let’s say, a very pernicious undesired effect,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexico-based security consultant. Mostly left alone, he said, criminal groups grew emboldened and expanded their presence into new areas.

Election violence has now permeated states previously untouched by such attacks in past elections, most notably Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state. The region was recently plunged into bloodshed as two major cartels and various factions fight for control of the country’s southern border with Guatemala. At least six people seeking public office have been killed in Chiapas since December, according to a Times count.

Such killings are tearing at the fabric of Mexico’s democracy.

“Who’s going to want to go to a rally where there’s a risk that a drone could drop a bomb?” asked Guillermo Valencia, the leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or P.R.I., in Michoacán state, where gunmen in February assassinated two mayoral hopefuls from rival parties in the city of Maravatío on the same day .

Antonio Carreño, the head of the Citizen’s Movement party in Michoacán state, said that at least seven candidates from his party had pulled out of races, voicing doubts over whether Mexico could boast of having free elections and rule of law.

“The question is clear: Where is democracy?” he said.

Ms. Gaytán’s state, Guanajuato, where a vibrant economy coexists with simmering security challenges, showcases the risks that people running for office face.

Accompanied by a privately hired female bodyguard, Ms. Gaytán had just started her campaign, well aware of the danger she faced. Only hours before she was gunned down, she had announced some of her plans to make the city of Celaya safer at a local rally.

She had promised to curb the activities of corrupt officials, improve the salaries and working conditions of police officers and install panic buttons and surveillance cameras throughout the city.

Before she was killed, the Morena party had filed a request with federal authorities for protection for her and eight other mayoral candidates in Guanajuato, said Jesús Ramírez Garibay, the secretary general of the party’s state committee. But the request, he added, remained in bureaucratic limbo for weeks, bouncing between federal and state authorities without being approved.

“These candidates were left unprotected because there was no prompt intervention by the state’s electoral institute and the state government,” Mr. Ramírez Garibay said. “They began their campaigns on their own, with the blessing of God alone.”

In an interview, Guanajuato’s security secretary, Alvar Cabeza de Vaca, said that his office never received a protection request for Ms. Gaytán. And according to a risk analysis the state conducted in December studying each candidate’s vulnerability, she would not have needed it, he contended.

“We detected a low risk for her,” Mr. Cabeza de Vaca said. “But that’s not so important. What’s important for me was that I didn’t receive a request. Regardless of our analysis, whoever asks for protection is given protection.”

Alma Alcaraz, Morena’s candidate for governor of Guanajuato state, said after the death of Ms. Gaytán, she started receiving threats. “The messages began appearing: ‘You’re next, leave the race, withdraw,’” she said.

Guanajuato’s state and municipal police officers are now protecting 255 local candidates, Mr. Cabeza de Vaca said.

Still, the conditions remain in place that have made Guanajuato — and Celaya in particular — a cauldron of violence.

Guanajuato is home to an array of manufacturing plants, part of a nearshoring boom in which companies have moved industries from China to Mexico. But it is also a place where two cartels, Santa Rosa de Lima and Jalisco New Generation, are engaged in a protracted conflict over extortion operations and territory for selling crystal meth.

A lucrative trade in purloined fuel, a weakened police force and criminal turf wars have made Guanajuato a killing field. Homicides have declined from pandemic-era levels, but government data shows that they remain exceptionally high , with at least 2,581 killings recorded in 2023, more than any other state in the country.

The attorney general’s office in Guanajuato said this month that the authorities had captured seven suspects from an unnamed “criminal cell” in connection with the killing, and that even more may be involved.

As political tensions ratchet higher over Ms. Gaytán’s killing, other local candidates are navigating what it means to still be involved in politics.

Juan Miguel Ramírez, a university professor who replaced Ms. Gaytán on the ballot, said campaigning has turned into a surreal exercise in which he is flanked by a dozen uniformed soldiers, even as he teaches class.

On a sweltering day in May, he was confident about his chances. But, he admitted, the climate of fear in Celaya and his predecessor’s fate has made him water down what he says on the campaign trail.

He refrains from focusing on the city’s security challenges as she had done.

“There are many criminal groups in Celaya,” he added. “Some of the groups here didn’t like that proposal. Based on that, I now keep my proposals more generic.”

Natalie Kitroeff contributed reporting.

Emiliano Rodríguez Mega is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Mexico City, covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. More about Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

Simon Romero is a Times correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. He is based in Mexico City. More about Simon Romero

A man in Mexico died with one form of bird flu, but US officials remain focused on another

Experts say the mysterious death of a man in Mexico who had one kind of bird flu is unrelated to outbreaks of another bird flu at U.S. dairy farms

NEW YORK -- The mysterious death of a man in Mexico who had one kind of bird flu is unrelated to outbreaks of a different type at U.S. dairy farms, experts say.

Here’s a look at the case and the different types of bird flu.

A 59-year-old man in Mexico who had been bedridden because of chronic health problems developed a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea in April. He died a week later , and the World Health Organization this week reported it.

The WHO said it was the first time that version of bird flu — H5N2 — had been seen in a person.

A different version of bird flu — H5N1 — has been infecting poultry flocks over the last several years, leading to millions of birds being culled. It also has been spreading among all different kinds of animals around the world.

This year, that flu was detected in U.S. dairy farms . Dozens of herd have seen infections, most recently in Iowa and Minnesota .

The cow outbreak has been tied to three reported illnesses in farmworkers, one in Texas and two in Michigan. Each had only mild symptoms.

So-called influenza A viruses are the only viruses tied to human flu pandemics, so their appearance in animals and people is a concern. These viruses are divided into subtypes based on what kinds of proteins they have on their surface — hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N).

Scientists say there are 18 different “H” subtypes and 11 different “N” subtypes, and they appear in scores of combinations. H1N1 and H3N2 are common causes of seasonal flu among humans. There are many versions seen in animals as well.

H5N1, the version that has worried some U.S. scientists lately, historically has been seen mainly in birds, but has in recent years has spread to a wide variety of mammals.

H5N2 has long been seen in Mexican poultry, and farms vaccinate against it.

It's also no stranger to the United States. An H5N2 outbreak hit a flock of 7,000 chickens in south-central Texas in 2004, the first time in two decades a dangerous-to-poultry avian flu appeared in the U.S.

H5N2 also was mainly responsible for a wave outbreaks at U.S. commercial poultry farms in 2014 and 2015.

Over the years, H5N2 has teetered between being considered a mild threat to birds and a severe threat, but it hasn't been considered much of a human threat at all.

A decade ago, researchers used mice and ferrets to study the strain afflicting U.S. poultry at the time, and concluded it was less likely to spread and less lethal than H5N1. Officials also said there was no evidence it was spreading among people.

Rare cases of animal infections are reported each year, so it's not unexpected that a person was diagnosed with H5N2.

"If you’re a glass half full kind of person, you’d say, ‘This is the system doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: detecting and documenting these rare human infections, where years ago we were stumbling in the dark,’” said Matthew Ferrari, director of Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics.

Indeed, Mexico Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer said kidney and respiratory failure — not the virus — actually caused the man's death.

Some experts said it is noteworthy that it's not known how he caught the man caught H5N2.

“The fact there was no reported contact (with an infected bird) does raise the possibility that he was infected by someone else who visited him, but it’s premature to jump to those conclusions,” said Richard Webby, a flu researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

At this point, H5N2 is still considered a minor threat compared to some of the other kinds of bird flu out there. Most human illnesses have been attributed to H7N9, H5N6 and H5N1 bird flu viruses.

From early 2013 through October 2017, five outbreaks of H7N9 were blamed for killing more than 600 people in China. And at least 18 people in China died during an outbreak of H5N6 in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

H5N1 was first identified in 1959, but didn't really began to worry health officials until a Hong Kong outbreak in 1997 that involved severe human illnesses and deaths.

H5N1 cases have continued since then, the vast majority of them involving direct contact between people and infected animals. Globally, more than 460 human deaths have been identified since 2003, according to WHO statistics that suggest it can kill as many as half of the people reported to be infected.

Like other viruses, H5N1 as evolved over time, spawning newer versions of itself. In the last few years, the predominant version of the virus has spread quickly among a wide range of animals, but counts of human fatalities have slowed.

Associated Press writer María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this story.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Gaza Government Media Office Director, Health Ministry Official Say 40 Killed in Israeli Strike on Nuseirat School

People carry the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli strike on a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, in this screengrab taken from a video June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Reuters TV

DUBAI (Reuters) - The director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office Ismail Al-Thawabta and a Gaza health ministry official told Reuters on Thursday 40 people were killed and 73 were wounded in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat school in the Gaza Strip.

The two officials added that 14 children and 9 women were killed in the strike.

Earlier, UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma told Reuters that the number of those reported killed in the Israeli offensive on the Nuseirat school was between 35 and 45, adding the number could not be confirmed at this stage.

The Israeli military said it assessed that there were 20-30 fighters located in the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency school.

(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi; Writing by Tala Ramadan and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Michael Georgy and Alex Richardson)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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