Friend halted entry into Mexico while The Tummy Tuck Four sounded the alarm

A fifth passenger who was denied entry to Mexico, where her four friends were later kidnapped by crime and drug syndicate Gulf Cartel, said she thought they were arrested because they were known for “partying and… consuming narcotics”.

Cheryl Orange said she traveled to the southern border with “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 refused entry for lacking proper ID – the four made their way to Matamoros, where they were caught in the crossfire of a gang before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survive the ordeal.

In a text exchange with the Associated Press, Orange said her friends were supposed to return after taking McGee for her “tummy tuck” and – when they didn’t return – she became concerned and alerted the police.

It came about as footage of the group driving to the southern border – filmed in the run-up to the tragic kidnapping – surfaced after their kidnapping.

A fifth passenger, identified as Cheryl Orange, who was denied entry to Mexico, where her four friends were later kidnapped by crime and drug syndicate Gulf Cartel, said she thought they had been arrested because they were known to “Partying and using narcotics”.

A case report states that Orange “looked worried and nervous” and “a smell of marijuana” “emanated from her person.”

Footage obtained by the NCbeat appears to show McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown, Shaeed Woodard and a fifth passenger named Cheryl Orange happily singing while driving the car to the southern border.

Orange told authorities the cosmetic surgery group was on the southern tip of Texas when lengthy parking tickets emerged for the four members who were hauled into a truck and kidnapped for four days by the Mexican Gulf Cartel crime and drug syndicate.

A case report received from NewsNation notes that Orange “looked worried and nervous” and “a smell of marijuana” “emanated from her person.”

The Brownsville Police Department report also said, “Cheryl did not appear to know the details of Latavia’s surgery, but stated that she believed the surgery was a buttock augmentation.”

The report continued, “Cheryl explained that she would not be surprised if her friends were arrested because they are known for partying and using narcotics.”

The five friends drove Thursday from South Carolina to the southern tip of Texas in a rented minivan, according to a police report based on Orange’s information. Four of them left around 8:00 am on Friday morning to go to Mexico.

Driving south, footage uploaded to Facebook Stories shows the five friends singing and joking together and reveals a fifth passenger, now identified as Orange, sleeping in the back.

In one video, a person named “Tay,” a nickname of McGee’s, can be heard speaking to another passenger and saying, “We’re on our way to Mexico b****.”

The video then pans to the other passengers in the car, including Orange, who is lying next to the passenger filming, whom NCbeat identified as Williams.

“Mexico, here we come,” Williams is heard saying before laughing and talking about the group pulling into a gas station.

Orange’s journey came to a sudden halt when she was refused entry for lacking proper ID – the four made their way to Matamoros, where they were caught in the crossfire of a gang before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survive the ordeal

These are the current US government travel advisories for Mexico. Only two states — Yucatan and Campeche — are completely counsel-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 while he films.

It remains unclear at what point during the trip the video footage was filmed – the group made their way to the Brownsville port of entry in what was clearly in high spirits.

What seemed to start out as your average road trip between friends quickly turned into a nightmare when Orange was left behind on the US side of the border.

A desperate attempt to save her four friends came after Orange contacted police when they failed to return to the US side as expected.

Orange, who did not travel to Mexico with the others, said her three friends were due to return within 15 minutes after dropping companion McGee on Friday for cosmetic surgery in the Mexican border town of Matamoros.

Staying behind at a motel in Brownsville, Texas, Orange said she was concerned as the hours ticked by and she heard nothing from the others.

Orange’s statements and report provide the most detailed account yet of what led to the kidnapping that saw McGee and another friend returned to a US hospital Tuesday after Mexican authorities rescued them and the bodies of their two friends in a wooden shack found on the sixth floor. a mile and a half outside of Matamoros. A Mexican woman also died in the attack.

Orange told police she didn’t cross the border because she didn’t have her ID.

She said she couldn’t provide more details as she was awaiting a call from McGee, who was due to be discharged from a Brownsville hospital.

The other wounded American, Eric Williams, was also hospitalized for a gunshot wound to the leg. Brown and Woodard died in the attack.

Orange confirmed via text message that the friends were traveling to accompany McGee for cosmetic surgery.

“She just had to have cosmetic surgery and that was it. That’s all, and that’s what happened to them,” Orange said at the time.

Mexican authorities said the group was fired upon and crashed their van shortly after they got into Matamoros on Friday as drug cartel factions rampaged through the streets.

The Americans were dragged away in a pickup truck, and Mexican authorities ran a feverish search as the cartel moved them — even taking them to a medical clinic — “to sow confusion and avoid efforts to rescue them,” the region’s governor said , America Villarreal Tuesday.

Orange told Brownsville authorities that she had everyone’s luggage with her but could not reach them, according to the police report.

“She tried to call her cell phones but the sound is off,” the report said.

It said Orange was given a phone number on Monday to contact CID investigators if she hadn’t heard from her friends.

Mexican authorities found the group on Tuesday in a wooden shack — guarded by an arrested man — in the rural Ejido Tecolote area east of Matamoros on the way to the gulf area dubbed “Baghdad Beach,” according to state prosecutor Irving Barrios.

Brown’s family members revealed that he was 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 AP.

Zalandria, who lives in Florence, SC, said his death was “like a bad dream that you wish you could wake up from.”

“To see a family member being thrown in the back of a truck and being dragged along is just incredible,” she added.

DailyMail.com revealed long criminal records for all four victims of the Mexico kidnapping. Woodard was charged with “manufacturing and possessing” drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged with “possession of marijuana or hashish.”

Images from the moment of the kidnapping surfaced on social media, showing the group of four being pulled into the back of a truck by Gulf Cartel

The bodies of Brown and Woodard will be brought home today after being prepared for transfer at the Matamoros Forensic Medical Service morgue.

DailyMail.com revealed Williams was previously arrested for “distributing crack near a school” while McGee was hit for “unlawful conduct towards a child” when their daughter tested positive for amphetamines.

Woodard was charged with “manufacturing and possessing” drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged with “possession of marijuana or hashish.”

The four were found in a derelict hideout near a place called La Lagunona in the town of El Tecolote – about six and a half miles from where they were found.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk