A fifth American who was denied entry into Mexico, where her four friends were later kidnapped by the notorious Gulf Cartel, said the group told her they would only cross the border “for 15 minutes.”
Cheryl Orange traveled to the southern border with Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown, Shaeed Woodard for her friend’s cosmetic tummy tuck.
But Orange said he was unable to enter Mexico because he did not have proper identification, and the four continued on to Matamoros, where they were caught in gang crossfire before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survived the ordeal.
orange said CNN that after she was unable to enter Mexico, the group dropped her off at her hotel and told her they’d be back in 15 minutes.
He spoke of the ordeal when images surfaced of a stolen Lamborghini being seized by Mexican police near the wooden shack where survivors Williams and McGee were found along with the bodies of their slain friends. Police also recovered the stolen ambulance cartel members used to take American victims to a local clinic for treatment after the attack.
Cheryl Orange traveled to the southern border with Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown, Shaeed Woodard for her friend’s cosmetic tummy tuck. Orange could not enter Mexico and her friends said they would return “in 15 minutes”
A stolen Lamborghini was seized by police near the shack where the kidnapping victims were staying.
Orange said: ‘When I told him I didn’t have my ID with me (to enter Mexico), they dropped me off at the hotel and said they’d be back in 15 minutes.’
‘That’s why I was so worried and scared, because it didn’t feel right. Fifteen minutes had passed and they were gone.
She said: ‘When they dropped me off at the hotel, I got in the shower, showered and lay on the bed, I was exhausted from the long hours, the long journey, so I ended up falling asleep.
“I woke up and it was already 5 in the afternoon.”
Orange said he asked hotel staff if the group had returned or made contact, but they had not.
“I called my boyfriend, I called Tay’s brother and told him something wasn’t right and I texted my roommate. I said that something is not right. 9 o’clock came, 12 o’clock came, midnight and one hour on Saturday morning.
‘At 10:23 a.m. is literally a few minutes before departure. I’m like there’s no way, I called the police immediately.
Orange described the moment he saw footage purporting to show the kidnapping, in which cartel members force their victims into a white truck.
Orange’s journey came to a screeching halt when he was denied entry because he did not have proper identification: The four continued on to Matamoros, where they were caught in gang crossfire before being kidnapped. Only Williams and McGee survived the ordeal.
Orange said: ‘I dropped the phone, my body tightened, I dropped the phone, my stomach was in knots and I began to pray for their return. I didn’t know much about the cartels and I started looking for videos and it was bad. I started thinking the worst.
She added: ‘I want the world to leave us alone and stop being mean. I want them to have a heart because everyone has a past. What happened to him was not right. She didn’t deserve it, she’s a beautiful person. When I spoke to Latavia yesterday, she said thank you. She told me thank you.
The interview came before detailed footage surfaced this morning of a stolen Lamborghini seized by police near the shack where the cartel held Williams and McGee along with their murdered friend. ABC reported that the vehicle was among five vehicles that were seized.
The interview with Orange comes after the images obtained by the NCbeat appear to show McGee, Williams, Brown, Woodard, and Orange singing happily as they traveled to the southern border.
Orange then stressed to authorities that the group had been in the southern tip of Texas for the cosmetic procedure when extensive criminal histories emerged for the four members who were loaded onto a truck and held hostage for four days by the Mexican crime and drug syndicate. of the Gulf Cartel.
Report of a case obtained by NewsNation he claims that Orange ‘seemed worried and nervous’ and that ‘a smell of marijuana’ had been ’emitting from her person’.
The Brownsville Police Department report also stated that: “Cheryl did not appear to know the details of Latavia’s surgery, but stated that she believed the surgery was a buttock augmentation.”
These are the current travel advisories for Mexico from the United States government. Only two states, Yucatán and Campeche, are completely free of notices.
The report continued: “Cheryl stated that she would not be surprised if her friends were arrested because they have been known to party and use narcotics.”
The five friends had driven a rented minivan from South Carolina on Thursday to the southern tip of Texas, according to a police report based on Orange’s account. Four of them left on Friday morning around 8:00 am to go to Mexico.
On the way south, images uploaded to Facebook stories show 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 talking to another passenger saying ‘We’re on our way to Mexico, bitch.’
The video then cuts to the other passengers in the car, including Orange, who can be seen reclining next to the filming passenger who NCbeat identified as Williams.
“Mexico here we go,” Williams is heard saying before laughing and talking about the group stopping at a gas station.