Two Americans kidnapped in Mexico found dead, two found alive

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(MEXICO CITY) — Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico have been found dead, while the other two have been found alive, according to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

One of those found alive was injured, Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said Tuesday.

The two survivors are now back in the U.S., sources close to the investigation told ABC News. The bodies of the two Americans who died are being held at the morgue in Matamoros, the sources said.

One person has been arrested, the president said.

The Americans traveled into Mexico on Friday, arriving in Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas, according to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen shot the passengers of the vehicle,” the embassy said. The Americans had been traveling in a white minivan.

“The gunmen herded the four U.S. citizens into another vehicle and fled,” the embassy said.

The four Americans were identified as Zindell Brown, Eric James Williams and cousins Latavia “Tay” McGee and Shaeed Woodard.

McGee — a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure — is among the two survivors, McGee’s mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News.

Burgess said the FBI came to her home on Tuesday with the good news.

“I had to hold my heart,” Burgess said.

“There is a God,” she said.

McGee spoke to her mother from a hospital in Brownsville on Tuesday and told her mother she had no major injuries, Burgess said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the Justice Department is working with its Mexican counterparts on the situation.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday, “We offer our deepest condolences to the friends and families of those who were killed in these attacks.”

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

ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Anne Laurent and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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