More than a month, four Americans in A Mexico A drug gang, two survivors are detailing their arrest as they recover from the trauma of the ordeal and the death of their two friends.
“They don’t deserve this. None of us deserved it. But we’re alive — we’ve got a lot to recover from,” said Latavia Washington Magee. CNN Anderson Cooper during an exclusive interview Tuesday.
Survivors of Mexican kidnappings reveal details of their horrific time in captivity
On March 3, Washington Magee, Eric Williams, Shaid Woodard and Zindell Brown were kidnapped while traveling to a medical appointment in Matamoros, Mexico. Both Woodard and Brown were killed, McGee and Williams survived.
As the group drove across the border into Mexico, they heard a car horn honking behind them. Brown looked back. Washington Magee recalled that he then saw the occupants holding guns and told the others not to stop the vehicle.
That’s when the shooting started, according to Williams.
“Zindel and Shaid jumped to run and were shot,” Williams said.
Williams jumped out of the driver’s door and was shot in both legs when a man started banging on the car window with a gun.
Meanwhile, Washington Magee is forced into the bed of a pickup truck at gunpoint, disturbing CCTV footage shows, and the others are loaded.
Investigators believe the group was mistaken for Haitian drug traffickers; A US official previously told CNN.
Related: Latavia McGee, mother of Mexican hostage survivor, talks about murder: ‘She saw them die’
The deceased were both still alive when their limp bodies were thrown into the back of a pick-up truck
Williams and Washington Magee told CNN that Brown and Woodward’s limp bodies were dragged and thrown into the bed of the truck.
The news outlet reported that the team was taken to another location for questioning.
“This is where Shaid said, ‘I love you all, and I’m gone.’ And he died right there,” Williams said.
Washington recalled telling Woodard that McGee was lying dead in the back of the truck.
Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams survived the kidnapping, while Shaid Woodard and Zindell Brown were killed.
Apology letter by Gulf Cartel for 4 kidnappings and handover of 5 members to local authoritieshttps://t.co/GV0OWhtTvK pic.twitter.com/Uwuk2PUHhk
— Holly Quinn (@HollyQuinn30248) March 12, 2023
“He said he loved us and left. That was the last thing he said,” Williams said through tears.
They say McGee and Williams were moved to different locations over the next few days while they remained in captivity.
The group was eventually led to a house by men wearing red plastic “Diablo” masks, who “told us not to point guns at our heads,” Williams said.
Later, Williams was taken to the clinic, where they sewed up his leg and placed it on a stick, although no one examined it to find out if there was a bullet in it.
“No pain meds or nothing. They sewed it up,” Williams said.
The survivor remembers sitting in a room with his dead friend: “It’s okay, I’m your brother,” he said.
She said she sat in the room with Brown as McGee lay dying and mortally wounded.
The video is said to show the kidnapping of 4 US citizens in Mexico near the Texas border.pic.twitter.com/XTqInsP5te
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePress) March 6, 2023
So far, six people have been arrested in Mexico in connection with the murderous kidnapping, officials said.
McGee and Williams finally survived on March 7 after being thrown into a log cabin. The two survivors and the bodies of their friends eventually returned to America
A letter of apology was later released and discovered by the Gulf Cartel.
At least six people have been arrested in Mexico so far. CNN.