A fifth passenger who was denied entry into Mexico, where her four friends were later abducted by crime and drug syndicate Gulf Cartel, said she believed they had been arrested because they were known for “partying and using narcotics.”
Cheryl Orange said she traveled to the southern border with Latavia “Tay” McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard for her friend’s cosmetic tummy tuck.
Orange’s journey came to a sudden halt when she was denied entry for not having proper identification – the four continued on to Matamoros where they were caught in mob crossfire before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survive the ordeal.
In a text exchange with Associated PressOrange said her friends would return after taking McGee to her “tummy tuck” and — when they didn’t return, she became concerned and alerted the police.
It comes as footage of the group driving to the southern border – filmed leading up to the tragic kidnapping – in the aftermath of their abduction.
A fifth passenger, identified as Cheryl Orange, who was denied entry into Mexico, where her four friends were later abducted by crime and drug syndicate Gulf Cartel, said she believed they had been arrested because they were known for “partying and narcotics to use’.
A case report states that Orange “appeared worried and nervous” and that there was “an odor of marijuana” emanating from her person.
Footage obtained by the NCbeat appear to have McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown, Shaeed Woodard and a fifth passenger named Cheryl Orange singing happily on their road trip to the southern border.
Orange stressed to authorities that the cosmetic surgery group had been in the southernmost tip of Texas when lengthy criminal records emerged of the four members who were dragged into a truck and kidnapped for four days by the Mexican crime and drug syndicate. Gulf Cartel.
A case report obtained by NewsNation states that Orange “appeared worried and nervous” and “a smell of marijuana” had escaped from her person.
The Brownsville Police Department report also stated, “Cheryl did not appear to know the details of Latavia’s surgery, but did state that she believed the surgery was gluteal augmentation.”
The report continued, “Cheryl stated she wouldn’t be surprised if her friends were arrested because they are known to party and use narcotics.”
The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina to the southernmost tip of Texas on Thursday, according to a police report based on Orange’s account. Four of them left for Mexico around 8 a.m. on Friday morning.
On the drive south, footage uploaded to Facebook stories shows the five friends singing and joking with each other, revealing a fifth passenger, now identified as Orange, sleeping in the back.
In one video, a person named “Tay,” a nickname for McGee, can be heard speaking to another passenger, saying, “We’re on our way to Mexico b****.”
The video then scrolls to the other passengers in the car, including Orange, who can be seen standing next to the passenger filming who NCbeat has identified as Williams.
“Mexico, here we come,” Williams can be heard say before laughing and talking about the group pulling into a gas station.
Orange’s journey came to a sudden halt when she was denied entry for not having proper identification – the four continued on to Matamoros where they were caught in mob crossfire before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survive the ordeal
These are the current travel advisories for Mexico from the US government. Only two states – Yucatan and Campeche – are completely advisory-free
A second video shows the group sharing snacks and laughing, while a third video shows the fifth person in the car hiding behind Williams as he films.
It remains unclear at what point during the trip the video footage was shot – the group was clearly in high spirits as they headed for the port of entry in Brownsville.
What started out as an average road trip between friends quickly turned into a nightmare when Orange was left stranded on the US side of the border.
A frantic effort to rescue her four friends came after Orange contacted police when they failed to return to the US side as expected.
Orange, who did not enter Mexico with the others, said her three friends would return within 15 minutes of dropping their companion, McGee, for cosmetic surgery in the Mexican border town of Matamoros on Friday.
Orange stayed behind in a motel in Brownsville, Texas, saying she grew concerned as the hours passed and she didn’t hear from the others.
Orange’s statements and report provide the most detailed account to date of what led to the kidnapping in which McGee and another friend were returned to a US hospital on Tuesday after Mexican authorities rescued them and found the bodies of their two friends in a wooden hut six and a half miles outside Matamoros. A Mexican woman was also killed in the attack.
Orange told police she had not crossed the border because she did not have her ID with her.
She said she couldn’t provide additional details because she was waiting for a call from McGee, who was due to be released from a Brownsville hospital.
The other injured American, Eric Williams, was also treated in hospital for a gunshot wound to his leg. Brown and Woodard were killed in the attack.
Orange confirmed via text that the friends were traveling to accompany McGee for cosmetic surgery.
“She just went for cosmetic surgery, and that’s it. That’s all, and this happened to them,” Orange said at the time.
Mexican authorities have said the group was shot at and their van crashed shortly after entering Matamoros on Friday as drug cartel factions ripped through the streets.
The Americans were towed away in a pickup truck and Mexican authorities searched frantically as the cartel moved them — even taking them to a medical clinic — “to create confusion and avoid attempts to rescue them,” the region’s governor said , America Villarreal. Tuesday.
Orange told authorities in Brownsville that she had everyone’s luggage but had been unable to reach them, according to the police report.
“She tried to call their cell phones, but the sound was off,” the report said.
It said Orange had been given a phone number to contact detectives on Monday if she hadn’t heard from her friends.
Mexican authorities found the group on Tuesday in a wooden hut — guarded by an arrested man — in the rural Ejido Tecolote area east of Matamoros on their way to the Gulf area called “Baghdad Beach,” the state’s chief prosecutor Irving Barrios said. .
Relatives of Brown revealed that he had been reluctant to travel south of the border.
“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go under,” Brown’s sister Zalandria said in a phone interview with the AP.
Zalandria, who lives in Florence, SC, said his death was “like a bad dream you want to wake up from.”
“To watch a family member get thrown into the back of a truck and dragged along, it’s just unbelievable,” she added.
Images emerged on social media of the moment of the kidnapping in which the group of four was pulled onto the back of a truck by Gulf Cartel
The bodies of Brown and Woodard were repatriated to the US from a forensic medical service mortuary in Matamoros on Wednesday.
DailyMail.com revealed that Williams was previously arrested for “distributing crack near a school,” while McGee was beaten for “unlawful conduct toward a child,” when her daughter tested positive for amphetamines.
Woodard was charged with “producing and possessing” drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged with “possession of marijuana or hashish.”
The four were found in a dilapidated storehouse near a place known as La Lagunona in the town of El Tecolote – about six and a half miles from where they were taken.
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