Robinson, who ran a successful hair-braiding business in Charlotte, died late last month under mysterious circumstances while in San Jose del Cabo with six friends to celebrate one of their. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He said authorities estimated they were dumped there anywhere from one week to two months ago. The bodies of 11 men and three women were found in a mass grave near the tourist resort of San Jose del Cabo on the southern tip of the Baja peninsula, where violence between rival drug gangs has surged. Mexican authorities are investigating the case as a femicide, which is defined as the homicide of a woman because of her gender. Charlotte resident Shanquella Robinson died while on vacation in Cabo, Mexico, on October 29. Hirschsohns daughter, raised the alarm on Facebook on September 2 in a post that was shared in a number of different Baja-related Facebook groups. In October, a 25-year-old American woman was killed near the resort town of Cabo San Lucas. Our immediate concerns are for the safe return of our citizens, she added. CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a U.S. woman suspected of killing another American seen being beaten in a . At first, the others who were there claimed Robinson had succumbed to alcohol poisoning, according to her mother. News outlets in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that the people Robinson was traveling with gave differing versions of how she died, but that an autopsy revealed she died of a severe spinal cord or neck injury. A day later, she was dead. Sign up now. We urge Americans to read these alerts before traveling, Ms. Jean-Pierre said. She declined to answer question about whether Mr. Biden would consider using military action against the cartel. If you do plan on leaving the U-S for medical care, Dr. Shoukas says to make sure the area is safe, research the doctor and facility and meet with your healthcare provider before the day of the procedure. Is Mexico travel safe? Alejandro Hope, a former Mexican intelligence official, told USA TODAY that various factions of the Gulf cartel are at war with each other in Matamoros due to arrests and splintering into competing groups vying for control of the lucrative northbound plazas used to trafficdrugs into the U.S. When Americans become victims of violence in Mexico, it is often because they are at the wrong place at the wrong time, traversing a frontier rife with criminal activity. Mass graves, some with hundreds of bodies, have been discovered around Mexico in the states that have been hardest hit by drug violence, such as Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Morelos and Guerrero. Robinsons mother, Salamondra, later told Good Morning America that the day before the autopsy report was released, Robinsons friends went over to her house and each told her a different description of what happened in Mexico. "(Orange) stated that she has not heard from them since (Friday)," the report said. The AP reported obtaining a copy ofthe letter from a law enforcement source in Tamaulipas, the Mexican state where the American travelers were attacked. She recognized Ms. McGees blond braids, she said, as well as her brother, who she said was wearing tan pants and a black shirt. Zindell Brown, Eric Williams, Shaeed Woodard and Latavia McGee traveled to Mexico for a medical procedure but were violently kidnapped by a cartel. Kolko encourages anyone traveling to Mexico to enroll in the U.S. State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). Experts from the Director of Specialized services carried out the processing of the premises in search of any indications that should be included within the investigation file.. How much safer do you feel in Mexico City now compared to years ago. Don't wear jewelry. Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose. The woman . Local prosecutor Antonio Lpez Rodrguez said the case was being treated as a potential homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect. Mexican authorities have not publicly named the American woman they are seeking to extradite, but have confirmed it is one of her friends. The group was staying at a luxury five-bedroom villa priced at $1,600 a night and up, and decided to stay in on their first night in town. The group had driven from South Carolina to Mexico for one of the members, Latavia McGee, to undergo what was initially reported as a tummy tuck, although Orange told police it was actually for "gluteal augmentation.''. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. According to WCNC-TV, the letter also identifies a murder suspect. On Oct. 28, 25-year-old Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, North Carolina to go on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico. Hirschsohn, 78, an avid windsurfer and retired aerospace engineer, had been renting a home in El Socorrito for the past 35 years, family members said. They were found along with the bodies of the dead in a house outside the city, where they were being held, the authorities said. Let's just make it so they get sent to a nightmare dimension for all eternity instead" 83. Don't flash cash. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. They were last heard from on August 28 when Harvey texted her son, Robert Harvey, saying they were setting out to visit a gold mine or hit the beach. The family of a North Carolina woman found dead last month in a vacation rental property in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is still looking for answers more than two weeks after her death. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Oscar Montes de Oca, Attorney General of Quintana Roo, said . Jackson received the clip from someone who was in the room that sent it to an individual family member they are friends with, he told The Daily Beast. Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, was found dead under suspicious circumstances on Oct. 29 at the rented San Jos del Cabo villa she was . Alfredo Estrella/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Thats the line that we have right now as the most viable, Mr. Barrios said. Julie Byrd, the president of CaboVillas.com, through which Robinson and her friends rented the villa, did not answer her personal cell phone on Thursday and did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It comes at a critical moment for the security relationship between Mexico and the United States, as Republican members of Congress have proposed a bill that would allow the U.S. military to combat organized crime south of the border and as several states push to label drug cartels terrorist groups. 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. "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. But some people may be reconsidering their travel plans after four Americans were kidnapped and two of them killed when they traveled last week to Matamoros, Mexico. (Reuters). Volunteers,including somerelatives of the missing, and search dogs joined investigators on the searches. CABO SAN LUCAS - Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a U.S. woman suspected of killing another American seen being beaten in a viral video. The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. One of Robinsons friends is being accused of the murder, though investigators have not identified whom. And just a few days before the four Americans were kidnapped, an American citizen was killed by the Mexican military in the same state, Tamaulipas, as he was driving back from a nightclub with his friends on Feb. 26. A personal chef prepared dinner for the travelers, and Robinson said everything was fine when she called her mom to say she had arrived safely and would be back in touch the next day,local outlet WJZY reported. But on Thursday, they said they had approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get the woman extradited to face charges in Mexico. Three expats have been found dead in Baja California and Baja California Sur this week. The day of her passing, Robinsons friends initially told her parents that their daughter died from alcohol poisoning. At another site in a wooded area on the outskirts of Cancun, he said, authorities foundunidentified human skeletal remains belonging to three other people. ( NewsNation) - Mexican officials are calling for an American woman to be extradited after filing charges against her in the death of North Carolina tourist Shanquella Robinson last month.. One of the other kidnapped Americans, Mr. Woodard, had recently worked at an insulation company and then cleaning rooms at an oceanside hotel in Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to former colleagues. Robinsons death at a resort development in San Jose del Cabo shocked people in both countries. She was indifferent, nothing to do with the atmosphere of celebration. Image 1 of 2. The death certificate for a North Carolina woman who died last month while on vacation with friends in Cabo San Lucas is only leading to more questions as the family struggles to make sense of the . The number of murders in the first four months of the year increased more than five times from the same period last year to 144, according to government data. She had a huge bucket list of where she wanted to go., Ava Setzer, Hirschsohns daughter, raised the alarm on Facebook on September 2 in a post that was shared in a number of different Baja-related Facebook groups. READ: New dashboard launches, reveals which airlines let families sit together fee-free. The official autopsy report, however, says that medical officials came to see her before 3 p.m., after which she was rapidly declared dead from sustaining an injury to her spinal cord and neck. We are already carrying out all the relevant procedures, both the Interpol file and the extradition request, de la Rosa added. Subscribe now. TAMPA, Fla. - A retired FBI special agent is warning travelers to do their homework before heading to Mexico after four Americans were kidnaped, with two of them being killed, and the other two being rescued, according to U.S. State Department officials. The murder rate has surged in Baja California Sur in the past three years. He and Harvey, a 73-year-old retired physical therapist, had planned to spend a week south of the border. If the investigation does not indicate Robinson was killed because of her gender, it will be re-classed as a standard homicide, a spokesperson for the AGs office said, adding, The simple fact that the victim is a woman doesnt determine that its a femicide.. Oscar Montes de Oca, attorney general of Quintana Roo, said Tuesday that police found the bodies during weekend searches in wooded lots and sinkhole ponds, according to The Associated Press. There have been some recent cases of particularly brutal violence against Americans in Mexico. 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. According to a map from the U.S. State Department, popular destinations like Cabo and Cancun are currently under level 2 travel advisories which means travelers should exercise increased caution. Copyright 2023 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC., a Berkshire Hathaway company. Authorities located them Tuesday morning on the outskirts of the city, guarded by a man who was arrested. Mexico remains the number one international spring break destination for U.S. travelers, but some areas of the country in recent years have increasingly become hot spots for crime and drug cartel activity. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The doomed long weekend began on Friday, Oct. 28, and the group was set to return to the U.S. on Monday, Oct. 31, according to hotel records seen by The Daily Beast. Many times weve seen the cartel will police themselves, he said. The PGJE will maintain the leadership of the investigation in order to collect more evidence and achieve an accurate clarification with the facts, without ruling out any hypothesis, the office added. During the initial confrontation between the victims and the kidnappers, an innocent Mexican citizen was killed, according to Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. MEXICO RESCUES 15 CHILDREN IN CABO SAN LUCAS RESORT. "Do not drive across the border if you want to go to Mexico. November 27, 2022 5:18 PM EST M exican prosecutors have filed charges against a suspect in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American woman who died on Oct. 29 while on vacation. It lists the cause of death as "severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation," and says she died within 15 minutes of injury. Robinsons family called for authorities to take a deeper look at the case and insisted that the 25-year-olds death was not from alcohol poisoning, especially after the video of what her family believes is Robinson surfaced. 0:05. Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose. And just a few days before the four Americans were kidnapped, an American citizen was killed. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. There is already an arrest warrant issued for the crime of femicide, Daniel de la Rosa, the attorney general for Baja California Sur, told local media outlets last week. Some 30,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since drug violence increased sharply around 2007. U.S. and Mexican authorities said the group wastraveling for cosmetic surgerywhen they gotcaughtin a drug cartel shootout in the border city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state,south ofBrownsville, Texas. The gunmen then put the Americans in another vehicle and drove them away. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is asked to contact local law enforcement or the East Arkansas Regional Unit at (870) 295-4700. With Trevor Peterson, Persia White, Caitlin Gerard, Demetri Goritsas. What to know about visiting Cabo, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and more, Two survivors have returned to the US; victims identified: Updates, Fifth member of group stayed behind and grew concerned, Ex-Mexican intelligence official on cartel: 'Bunchof unsophisticated thugs', Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Theycall themselves a cartel, but theyre just a bunch of unsophisticated thugs, said Hope,asecurity consultant and partner at GEA Grupo de Economistas y Asociados in Mexico. They were caught in the. Teacher Allegedly Shot, Killed by Husband Who Was Arrested in Pa. After Daughter Called 911, Woman Allegedly Used Social Media to Find and Kill Doppelgnger So She Could Fake Her Own Death, travel mates allegedly insisted she died of alcohol poisoning. State prosecutor Daniel de la Rosa Anaya said the suspect was also an American, but did not identify her. Less than 24 hours later, Robinson was dead. The widely shared video that appears to be of the kidnapping showed three men dragging people on the ground and then lifting and dropping them in the bed of a white pickup truck. And in 2021, two tourists were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight. Alcohol. A Mexican drug cartel claiming its members werebehind the brazen kidnapping of four Americans last week handed over five of the members and left a note of apology, Mexican media outlets and The Associated Press reported Thursday. In the letter, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros,aMexican woman who was killed by a stray bulletand the four Americans and their families. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that the Biden administration was in touch with the families of those kidnapped. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Doctors say people who are traveling for a medical procedure need to be extremely cautious because there are greater risks aside from just travel. 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. Video published by local media in Matamoros, Mexico, shows armed men dragging people on the ground before loading them into the back of a pickup truck. However, the autopsy report provided to the family said something very differentRobinsons neck had been broken and spine severed, the local medical examiner determined. Orangetold police she had last seen the group at 8 a.m. Friday,when they left a Brownsville motel for Matamoros in arented white minivanbearing North Carolina plates. The four Americans drove into the border town of Matamoros, Mexico, from Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan on Friday when gunmen began firing on their vehicle, the F.B.I. A post shared by Shanquella Robinson (@its.quella_). Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a suspect in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American woman who died on Oct. 29 while on vacation with six of her friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But by Tuesday, the Mexican authorities confirmed that her brother was dead, one of the two Americans in the group who were killed after gunmen attacked their car hours after they had crossed into the dangerous border town of Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state last week.
