4 Americans Missing After They Were Kidnapped In Mexican Border City, FBI Says

Four U.S. citizens were kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said Sunday.

The four had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday, in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the agency said. The FBI San Antonio Division office said the vehicle came under fire shortly after it entered Mexico.

"All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men," the office said.

A post on Twitter Friday appears to show the moment they were kidnapped, CBS News' Christina Ruffini reports. One woman, walking on her own, was forced into a white pickup truck. Men armed with long guns and wearing bulletproof vests are then seen dragging one person after another into the vehicle. 

The conditions of the four are unknown. The video posted online appears to show some of them may be injured.

The U.S. consulate in Matamoros issued an alert on Friday about media reports of an individual shot during what appears to be the same incident — warning government employees to steer clear. The alert also reminded U.S. citizens that this particular part of Mexico is a "Level 4: Do Not Travel," which is the highest-level warning in the U.S. State Department's travel advisory system. 

Tamaulipas state police said people had been killed and injured Friday, but didn't say how many. 

The consulate in Matamoros — a city home to warring factions of the Gulf drug cartel — has posted at least four security alerts since Feb. 2020, warning of drug cartel violence, crime, kidnappings and clashes involving criminal armed groups. 

The FBI, seeking the public's help, is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of the victims and the arrest of the culprits.