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New Details of Night Shanquella Robinson Was Killed Revealed in Documents Submitted to President Biden

Shanquella Robinson, 25, was vacationing at a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas with six others when she was killed, reports say

Digital News Writer, PEOPLE

Nearly five months after North Carolina woman Shanquella Robinson was allegedly beaten to death while on a Mexican getaway with a group of people, her family's attorneys are demanding President Joe Biden put pressure on authorities to make an arrest.

Attorneys Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, who are representing Robinson's family, sent a letter to Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for "swift diplomatic intervention" on the victim's behalf, according to a press release.

In October 2022, Robinson, 25, was vacationing at a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with six others when she was killed, according to reports.

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Her travel mates allegedly insisted she died of alcohol poisoning , but an autopsy conducted by Mexican authorities showed that her death was caused by violence — specifically, "atlas and medullary dislocation," according to the autopsy.

"In our letter to President Biden and Secretary Blinken, we clearly stated that one of two things needs to happen: either the U.S. extradites Shanquella's killer to Mexico or the U.S. takes jurisdiction of the case and her killer is prosecuted here," Crump said, per the release. "Inaction is not acceptable in this case. Shanquella's family deserves swift justice for her death."

The letter states attorney Sue-Ann Robinson went on a "fact-finding mission" in Mexico where she met with local authorities to discuss the case.

According to Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, the letter to Biden and Blinken was accompanied by witness statements, Shanquella's autopsy and field reports conducted by local authorities.

Included among these witness statements is an account submitted to authorities in Mexico from an employee at the resort where Robinson stayed.

"She seemed to not fit in with others," the employee statement said, referring to Robinson's demeanor before she joined her travel mates for dinner. "When I introduced myself, she did not greet me or smile. She was indifferent, nothing to do with the atmosphere of celebration. She was out of place at that party."

According to WCNC-TV , the letter also identifies a murder suspect.

Previously, Mexican authorities said they were waiting on the U.S. to extradite an unnamed person who was allegedly involved in Robinson's death before they could move forward with their investigation, per WBTV-TV .

According to The Charlotte Observer , a video appears to show Shanquella being physically assaulted by another woman in a hotel room.

At least two others were present at the time of the alleged beating, ABC News reports.

The State Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Mexico requests extradition of American charged in tourist death

Shanquella Robinson reportedly died while on holiday after viral video shows her being beaten, apparently by an American woman

The US is weighing an extradition request from Mexico after authorities in the country charged an American woman with murdering another US woman shown being beaten while they vacationed in a viral video.

Prosecutors in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur have not named the suspect in the death of North Carolina’s Shanquella Robinson, who reportedly died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury while on holiday in Mexico on 29 October.

Robinson’s death sparked mass intrigue on social media after a viral video showed her being beaten, apparently by an American woman. Robinson had traveled to San Jose del Cabo with friends, who told Robinson’s family she died from alcohol poisoning.

But a copy of Robinson’s death certificate, obtained by Charlotte news channel WBTV , said the cause of her death was “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation”.

State prosecutors said evidence showed the death resulted from “a direct attack, not an accident”, and involved a female friend of the victim, CNN reported . They said they have approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get an unnamed female suspect extradited to face charges in Mexico.

Robinson’s death shocked people in both Mexico and the US.

The 25-year-old had arrived in San Jose del Cabo on 28 October and was staying at a vacation rental home with college friends, her father told CNN .

Robinson’s mother, Salamondra Robinson, told CBS News that her daughter’s friends initially said she had become sick with alcohol poisoning.

However, when a video showing Robinson being beaten went viral, in mid-November , it raised suspicions that Robinson may have died at the hands of people with whom she traveled.

The video shows Robinson being thrown to the ground and struck on the head. In the footage 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.

Salamondra Robinson confirmed to CBS News that it was her daughter in the video, adding that a man on the trip “supposedly was her best friend”.

“And he had went on family trips with us, you know?” Salamondra Robinson added. “And he had been to the family house.”

The group Robinson was traveling with left Mexico after she was found dead.

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 Associated Press reported .

The attorney general for Baja California Sur, Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, said the death did not result from a “quarrel” but from “a direct aggression that this person made”, according to CNN . De la Rosa Anaya confirmed that the suspect was an American but did not identify her.

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There will be no federal charges in Shanquella Robinson's death, the DOJ says

Ayana Archie

Federal charges will not be pursued in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American woman found dead in Mexico last October while on vacation, authorities announced Wednesday.

"Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys' Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson's family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina said.

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Mexico immigration agency chief will be charged in migrant center fire that killed 40.

Robinson, from Charlotte, N.C., traveled to San José del Cabo with several friends the day prior. Robinson's friends originally told her family that she died from alcohol poisoning, which ran counter to a death certificate obtained from Charlotte television station, WSOC-TV.

The federal government said it would review new information in the case if it became available.

The attorney for Robinson's family, Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, claimed there is a discrepancy between the autopsies done in the U.S. and Mexico.

"While it is discouraging for the loved ones of Shanquella that their own Department of Justice will not be pursuing charges against Shanquella's aggressor, it is our stance that justice is still possible for her death," they said. "We hope that there is still a chance at justice in Mexico."

• Shanquella Robinson

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FBI investigating death of North Carolina woman in Mexico who was seen being assaulted in video

November 22, 2022 / 11:29 PM EST / CBS/AP

The FBI has launched an investigation into the death last month of a U.S. woman in Mexico who was seen being assaulted in a cell phone video which went viral.

The FBI confirmed in a statement to CBS News Tuesday that it has "opened an investigation" into the death of Shanquella Robinson of Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to the FBI statement, the death occurred "on or about" Oct. 29 in Cabo San Lucas. Mexican authorities last week said the death occurred in San Jose del Cabo, which is located about 20 miles northeast of Cabo San Lucas. Both are located in the state of Baja California Sur.

In a Nov. 17 statement, Mexican prosecutors said they were investigating the death of a woman, who they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in San Jose del Cabo. At the time, however, a Mexican state official who was not authorized to be quoted by name confirmed the victim was Robinson. The official confirmed that the group she had been traveling with had since left Mexico.

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

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.

Mexican prosecutors said police found Robinson dead at the villa on Oct. 29.

Shanquella's mother, Salamondra Robinson, told CBS News in an interview last week that investigators in Mexico were looking into her daughter's death as a murder.

"I was glad to hear that," she said.

Salamondra said she was initially told by Shanquella's friends that she had gotten sick with alcohol poisoning. But later on, she learned there was a fight, and an autopsy found she had injuries to her spinal cord and neck.

The autopsy showed that "her death had nothing to do with alcohol," Salamondra said.

Mexican officials said they could not confirm the cause of death because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

When Salamondra saw the video, she said she knew it was her daughter. It raised questions about why nobody intervened in the purported beating, or why people she was traveling with would have beaten her.

"She was not fighting nobody back. She didn't even have a chance," Salamondra said. "No one tried to stop it."

The group Shanquella was traveling with were people she went to college with, Salamondra said.

"One of the guys supposedly was her best friend," she said. "And he had went on family trips with us, you know? And he had been to the family house."

Salamondra said she hadn't seen him since she got the autopsy results. She said she hopes she can get more answers about what happened to her daughter, whom she described as having "a heart of gold."

"She loved everybody. She didn't mistreat nobody. Never. No one could possibly ever say anything bad about her because she was a good person," Salamondra said.

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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.

• Mexico kidnapping — live: Two Americans kidnapped in Matamoros on ‘tummy tuck’ trip are found dead
• Four Americans kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico identified as group of friends who travelled for tummy tuck
• Two of four Americans kidnapped in Mexico ‘tummy tuck’ trip are found dead

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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Everything we know about the kidnapping of 4 Americans in Mexico

Two victims were found dead on March 7 and two were rescued alive.

Four Americans were kidnapped shortly after crossing into Mexico earlier this month. Two survived the violent ordeal, while two members of the group died.

Here's everything we know:

The kidnapping

The four Americans -- Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia "Tay" McGee and Shaeed Woodard -- drove the morning of March 3 into Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas.

"Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle," and then put the four Americans in another car and fled, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said.

MORE: 4 US citizens kidnapped in Mexico identified

Irving Barrios, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, said the Americans were not directly targeted and it appears "it was a misunderstanding."

Mexican investigators think the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

For the first time, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas also said on March 9 that a Mexican woman died in the incident. Arely Pablo, 33, died after being hit by a stray bullet during the kidnapping.

Williams and McGee survived the kidnapping. They were found the morning of March 7 in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said.

One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside the house, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

The two Americans found dead had blankets or sheets on top of them, a source close to the investigation told ABC News. One of the dead was wearing a surgical robe when he was found, the source said.

The Mexicans tried to seek medical attention for the Americans who were injured in the kidnapping, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas said in a statement on March 9. They were taken in an ambulance to a clinic, according to officials.

During the days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.

The survivors and the victims

McGee is a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure, according to her family.

Her mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News she spoke to her daughter on Tuesday. She said McGee had no major injuries.

Michele Williams, wife of survivor Eric Williams, said the FBI told her that her husband had been shot twice in one leg and once in the other.

He has undergone surgery in a Texas hospital, she said.

Brown, who was among the two killed, was on the trip to Mexico to support his friend, McGee, for her surgery, according to Brown's sister, Zalayna Brown Grant.

"Zindell was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend," Grant wrote on a GoFundMe page. "Our family waited for any news about my brother's return, but he won't be coming home alive."

Woodard, who was also killed, was McGee's cousin, according to McGee's mother.

The bodies of the two Americans killed were repatriated to the U.S. on March 9.

A fifth person who was traveling with the group, Cheryl Orange, did not cross the border into Mexico and remained in Brownsville, according to a police report from the Brownsville Police Department.

Orange did not cross into Mexico because "she did not have her ID with her" and contacted police on March 4, the day after the kidnapping, when she could not get in touch with them, the police report said.

The investigation

Five alleged members of a powerful Mexican cartel were charged with aggravated kidnapping and murder on March 10 in connection to the kidnapping.

The Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas announced the charges a day after the Gulf Cartel allegedly took responsibility for the kidnapping. The five men were found tied up near a pickup truck and a handwritten note was found placed on the windshield of the truck, whose author or authors say they belong to the Gulf Cartel, the dominant organized crime group in this part of Mexico. Neither ABC News nor U.S. officials have been able to independently verify the authenticity of the note.

The alleged cartel members have been indicted in connection with the kidnapping, the Tamaulipas attorney general announced Monday.

A 24-year-old suspect arrested in connection with the incident was formally indicted on an aggravated kidnapping charge, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas said on March 10. The man was allegedly acting as a lookout when authorities finally located the four missing Americans.

The office also announced a homicide charge in the killing of Pablo, the bystander.

The FBI said it's working with "federal and international partners to determine the facts of what happened and to hold those responsible for this horrific and violent attack accountable for their crimes."

Following the recovery of the victims, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, "Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where, under what circumstances they occur. We're going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case."

President Joe Biden has "been kept updated" on the situation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on March 7.

The FBI urges anyone with information to call its San Antonio office at 210-225-6741 or submit information on its website .

ABC News' Miles Cohen, Ellie Kaufman, Matt Rivers, Anne Laurent, Shannon Crawford, Dan Carranza and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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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.

World & Nation

Bodies found in Baja California during search for missing tourists, Mexican officials say

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.

May 4, 2024

“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.

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

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

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

Oct. 30, 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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Missing tourists found dead in Mexican well were trying to stop carjacking: Officials

Three bodies recovered in Mexico last week are those of three tourists who disappeared during a surfing trip and three people were in custody in connection to their deaths, officials in the country confirmed Sunday.

American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, of San Diego, and Australian brothers Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, vanished April 27 while on the trip in Ensenada, less than 100 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

During a press conference , the Baja California State Attorney General's Office said the victims were found shot at the bottom of a 50-foot well after it appears the trio tried to intervene in an apparent carjacking.

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On Sunday in an announcement, Mexico publicly expressed its condolences in the tourists' deaths after a prosecutor confirmed relatives of the victims traveled to the country and identified their loved ones bodies, the BBC reported .

A fourth body was also found in the well, but does not appear to be related to the tourists' killings, the office wrote in a press release. Authorities said that victim had been there for a longer period of time.

Watch: Man points gun at Pennsylvania pastor during church, police later find body at man's home

Three people detained in surfers' slayings

Baja chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said a warrant was issued for Jesús Gerardo “N”, alias “El Kekas”, charging him with forced disappearance of people in connection to the case. That suspect, Ramírez said, was in custody on Sunday.

Two other people, a man and a woman, had also been detained in connection to the killings, Ramírez announced. Officials did not identify the pair.

Ramírez said officials believed the killers saw the victims' tents and pickup truck and wanted to steal their tires, but when the victims "came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.”

California mass shooting: Long Beach shooting injures 7, 4 critically wounded, police say

Gun casing, blood stains and drag marks found at scene

The office previously said it learned about the missing friends through social media and announced their bodies were discovered after searching property near where they had been camping in area known as La Bocana Santo Tomás.

At the scene, officials wrote in a release, evidence including tent rods, a gun casing, plastic gallon bottles, blood stains and drag marks, which led to the suspicion that the victims may have been attacked.

U.S. and Australian consulates, embassies and national law enforcement confirmed they have been working closely with the Mexican authorities on the investigation.

The  U.S. Department of State encourages citizens  to keep their friends and families aware of their international travels and to discuss plans in the event of an emergency.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Missing tourists found dead in Mexican well were trying to stop carjacking: Officials

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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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Where 3 Dead Tourists Were Found Fast, Thousands Remain Missing

In Mexico, where tens of thousands of people have disappeared, the robust operation to quickly find the remains of three foreigners, from Australia and the United States, felt like a rare exception.

By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

Reporting from Mexico City

When two Australian brothers drove down to Mexico’s northwest coast from San Diego last week with their American friend, they were looking to catch the crisp waves that make Baja California a popular destination among travelers from across the world.

But soon after arriving to the Mexican city of Ensenada, Callum Robinson’s Instagram posts of his surf adventure ceased. The group stopped answering calls and texts.

He and his brother Jake never showed up at an Airbnb they had booked, their mother said in a social media post, pleading for help from anyone who had seen her two sons.

On Sunday, Mexican authorities announced that the bodies of the three tourists, found at the bottom of a well with gunshot wounds to their heads, had been identified by their families .

The men had been killed in a carjacking gone wrong, the authorities said, and suspects had been detained within days of the men’s disappearance. More people are being investigated.

It was a tragic yet somewhat fast resolution to a case that had drawn international attention.

For many local Mexicans, however, the quick response from the authorities to locate the Robinson siblings and Jack Carter Rhoad, the American, and make arrests seemed to be an exception in a country where tens of thousands of missing-person cases have sat for years without ever being solved.

The government said in March that about 100,000 people are missing in Mexico, though the United Nations says that could be an undercount.

“It is very difficult, except for high-profile cases like the one that just happened, for the authorities to immediately trigger the search,” said Adriana Jaén, a sociologist based in Ensenada who provides legal, emotional and logistical support to people searching for their missing loved ones.

Federal and state officials in Mexico tend to claim that violence levels have dropped even as official data contradicts them. The local authorities have themselves been involved in disappearances — in Baja California, municipal police officers from Ensenada were recently accused in the disappearance of one man. And then there’s also a lack of resources to investigate.

So it’s noticeable when a case appears to receive special attention.

“The message those of us who work on these issues get is that there are lives that matter,” Ms. Jaén added, “and there are others that don’t.”

There are more than 17,300 active disappearance investigations in Baja California state, according to government data provided to Elementa DDHH, a human rights group that has studied the disappearances in the state.

In many instances, it’s unclear whether the missing person was found; if they were the victim of a crime; and, if so, whether anyone was arrested. Some cases even lack even basic information for beginning a search, a government recount of the disappeared found last year .

“We don’t know exactly how many people are missing and how many have been located,” said Renata Demichelis, the Mexico director of Elementa DDHH. “The authorities don’t tell us.”

The available data, however, offer a hint of the problem’s magnitude.

In 2017, state prosecutors opened about 760 disappearance investigations in Baja California. In five years, the number jumped more than threefold, according to Elementa DDHH .

“This is an ongoing phenomenon, and it’s increasing exponentially,” said Ms. Demichelis, adding that several factors are contributing to the worsening disappearance crisis in Baja California, such as drug trafficking, internal displacement, migration and gender violence.

The state’s attorney general, María Elena Andrade Ramírez, said in an interview that prosecutors have so far ruled out the possibility that the killing of the Robinson brothers and Mr. Rhoad was linked to organized crime groups.

Those responsible had tried to seize the tourists’ pickup truck, she said. When they resisted, a man took out a gun and killed them.

“This aggression seems to have occurred in an unforeseen, circumstantial manner,” Ms. Andrade Ramírez said. “They took advantage when they saw the vehicle out in the open, in that remote location, where they knew that there were no witnesses.”

In a news conference this weekend, a reporter asked Ms. Andrade Ramírez if one needs to be a foreigner in Baja California to have state authorities act as swiftly as they did in the case of the missing tourists.

“Every investigation has its own process,” the attorney general answered. “And there are times when we have to take care of every detail, which takes a certain amount of time, to achieve a good result.”

On Sunday, after the victims’ families identified the bodies in the morgue, Adriana Moreno, a local resident, said she felt conflicting emotions.

“I’m so glad they found them so quickly. That’s my joy, my satisfaction,” said Ms. Moreno, 60. She has been looking for her son, Víctor Adrián Rodríguez Moreno, since 2009, when he and two of his co-workers — employees of an import business — were abducted in the northern state of Coahuila.

“But 15 years after the disappearance of my boy, there’s nothing,” Ms. Moreno said. “They make me feel like missing people come in levels of importance.”

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

3 bodies found in Mexico identified as 2 Australians, American killed in carjacking on surfing trip

SAN DIEGO — The remains of three people found near the Mexican fishing port of Ensenada are those of missing surfers from Australia and the U.S. who were killed in an apparent carjacking, authorities said Sunday.

Family members made the identifications in person at the behest of Baja California state prosecutors, the state attorney general's office said in a statement Sunday obtained by NBC San Diego . The bodies had been recovered from a remote well about 50 feet deep, authorities said.

The attorney general’s office said the bodies, found in La Bocana, south of Ensenada, are those of Jake and Callum Robinson, of Australia, and Jack Carter Rhoad, of the U.S.

At least two of the three were believed to be living in San Diego, authorities said, according to NBC San Diego.

The Ensenada medical examiner's office said Friday the three victims were killed by gunshot wounds to the head.

At a news conference Sunday, prosecutors said that the motive was carjacking and that the assailants may have been particularly focused on the wheels of the pickup truck used by the missing surfers.

The three were at a makeshift encampment during a fishing and surfing trip south of Ensenada, where the Baja coast rapidly becomes remote and filled with surprises for surfers seeking relatively rare rides.

Prosecutors said they found the trio’s encampment, including tents, spent gun shells, bloodstains and marks indicating bodies had been dragged.

Three people were being questioned in connection with the case, authorities said. Two of the three, a man and a woman, were held on methamphetamine-related allegations, they said, and the third was the subject of a kidnapping warrant.

Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said previously there may be evidence, including a victim's cellphone in the possession of one of the three, that might connect the trio to the case.

A fourth body was discovered with the three in the well and may be part of an unrelated case, authorities said.

On Sunday, Andrade Ramírez met with the three men's parents, her office said in its announcement identifying the bodies.

She reassured them, it said, that she was committed to ensuring those responsible face the full weight of the law.

The three men were considered missing on April 27 when they did not return to an Airbnb rental closer to the border, in Rosarito, Debra Robinson, the mother of Jake and Callum Robinson, said on Facebook.

Cartel and big-city street violence attributed to the drug trade in places like Tijuana has been seen as rare in the world of Baja tourism, which requires off-road-capable vehicles and the ability to start a campfire.

The peninsula’s Pacific coast has been a staple destination for U.S. surfers for 60 years, but the U.S. State Department has more recently urged Americans to avoid Baja travel as cartel violence has spread.

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. 

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South Carolina pastor's wife Mica Miller cause of death released by NC medical examiner

LUMBERTON, N.C. -- A South Carolina pastor's wife shot and killed herself in Robeson County, North Carolina, according to a medical examiner.

Dr. Richard Johnson is the Robeson County Medical Examiner. He told the area ABC affiliate that he was at the scene helping the on-call medical examiner on April 27 at Lumbee River State Park.

That's when and where the body of 30-year-old Mica Miller was found. She was the wife of John-Paul Miller, the pastor of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Mica's death had been the focus of much speculation since it became known that she had died. Her husband was the first to call Mica's death a suicide. Her friends and family then came forward with questions and concerns about her death.

"We were talking about her coming to church Sunday, getting some help with her car payment, just life stuff -- just her moving forward," one of Mica's friends said expressing doubts that she killed herself.

Online records show that Mica and John-Paul were in the process of getting a divorce.

During the weekend, there were two separate memorials held at the same time to honor Mica's life: one organized by her husband, the other by her friends.

In addition, police documents show that Mica "was afraid for her life" in the month leading up to her death.

The documents show that Mica believed a person was following and watching her, even deflating her tires and pestering her with phone calls. A mechanic reportedly found a tracking device on her car.

SEE ALSO | 'Got to be some accountability:' Loved ones grieve amid death investigation of MB woman

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Related Topics

• SOUTH CAROLINA
• WOMAN KILLED
• U.S. & WORLD
• MENTAL HEALTH
• DEATH INVESTIGATION

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