(NewsNation) — The wife of one of the Americans who was kidnapped in Mexico did not know her husband had been traveling to Mexico.
The FBI reported Sunday the agency was searching with Mexican authorities for missing Americans that had been kidnapped Friday in Matamoros, Mexico. Authorities say they were caught in the crossfire of rival cartel groups.
The Americans were found, with two dead and two surviving, Tuesday in a rural area called Ejido Longoreño on the way to “Bagdad Beach,” according to a Mexican state law enforcement official.
Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said Eric Williams was found shot in the left leg with a not life-threatening wound.
Eric’s wife, Michelle Williams, told NewsNation affiliate WBTW she was not aware that her husband had plans to travel to Mexico.
“I didn’t know that he was traveling to Mexico. I just knew he was going somewhere to help two friends. I didn’t hear from him after Friday. Friday morning, he texted me and I texted him back immediately. He didn’t respond. He didn’t respond to our son either, so I’m going to assume that’s when they were ambushed,” Williams told WBTW.
She added: “I highly doubt they thought this could have happened to them.”
Her husband is now at Brownsville Valley Regional Hospital receiving treatment for his injuries.
“I’m happy and thankful that he’s home, but I’m also heartbroken that the other two families can’t say the same,” Williams said.
The group of four Americans from Lake County, South Carolina entered into Mexico from Texas in a car with North Carolina plates.
Video that circulated online showed what’s believed to be the Americans being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen. Williams said she doesn’t typically watch videos of that nature on the internet, so she did not know about it as the situation was unfolding.
“I didn’t find out that something bad had happened because out of respect for other families, you know, with something similar, I don’t watch those kinds of videos on the internet, YouTube, or anything of that nature, so I was not aware that, that was my husband until the FBI came on Sunday morning,” Williams told WBTW.
Williams said when the FBI came knocking on her door, she initially thought it was a scam.
“It was just so surreal. I called the local police here and they confirmed,” Williams said.
Williams said she had a “sense of relief” when she learned her husband was OK. She’s not sure when he will return home to South Carolina from the hospital in Brownsville.
WBTW and NewsNation digital producer Steph Whiteside contributed to this story.