4 Americans Kidnapped In Mexico Had Traveled There For Medical Procedure
News reports say Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee, 33, crossed into Matamoros Friday with Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and their friend Eric. Brown's sister, Zalandria, said one of the travelers was going to get a "tummy tuck." All four are still missing.
AP:
4 Kidnapped Americans Crossed Into Mexico For Health Care
Four Americans who traveled to Mexico last week to seek health care got caught in a deadly shootout and were kidnapped by heavily armed men who threw them in the back of a pickup truck, officials from both countries said Monday. The four were traveling Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They came under fire shortly after entering the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, at the southernmost tip of Texas near the Gulf coast, the FBI said in a statement Sunday. ... Zalandria Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, and two friends had accompanied a third friend who was going to Mexico for a tummy tuck surgery. A doctor who advertises such surgeries in Matamoros did not answer calls seeking comment. (Penz and Barakat, 3/7)
The Washington Post:
What We Know About The Americans Kidnapped In Matamoros, Mexico
Why do Americans cross the border for health care?
Pharmacies, dentists and optometrists begin appearing almost as soon as you cross the border into northern Mexico. Numbers are difficult to come by, but Americans regularly cross the border for health care, as well as cosmetic surgeries, experts said. One of the most common health-care reasons for Americans to cross the border is to visit a dentist, according to academics studying the U.S.-Mexico border. (Javaid and Villegas, 3/6)
