Austin Caldwell:Russian woman kidnapped near U.S. border in Mexico is freed, officials say

2025-05-07 15:59:09source:NSI Communitycategory:News

A Russian woman who was kidnapped in northeastern Mexico has been released,Austin Caldwell Russian embassy and Tamaulipas state officials said Sunday.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, was released without paying the ransom kidnappers sought and was taken to a police station in Reynosa, Tamaulipas state, near the U.S. border, diplomats said on social media.

She was rescued "in good health" late Saturday by a state anti-kidnapping unit, police said. They provided no details on how the rescue took place, who the captors were and whether they had been arrested or killed.

The woman was believed to have been abducted while traveling with Mexican acquaintances between Monterrey, in Nuevo Leon state, and Reynosa.

In March last year, people believed to be with a criminal group known as the Gulf Cartel kidnapped four Americans in Tamaulipas in an incident that left two of them dead.

Americans Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard died in the attack; Eric Williams and Latavia McGee survived. A Mexican woman, Areli Pablo Servando, 33, was also killed, apparently by a stray bullet.

A Mexican army soldier guards the Tamaulipas State Prosecutor's headquarters in Matamoros, Mexico, Wednesday, March 8, 2023. STR / AP

The Gulf drug cartel turned over five men to police soon after the abduction. A letter claiming to be from the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel condemned the violence and said the gang had turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible. 

In January, Mexican marines detained one of the top leaders of the Gulf cartel.

Tamaulipas is among the states hardest-hit by violence linked to organized crime such as drug trafficking and kidnapping. The state is also a busy route for undocumented migrants hoping to cross into the United States.

Last month, Mexican troops on patrol killed 12 gunmen in a clash near the U.S. border in Tamaulipas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    In:
  • Mexico
  • Cartel

More:News

Recommend

NASA still hasn't decided the best way to get the Starliner crew home: 'We've got time'

The U.S. space agency is also still considering having Wilmore and Williams instead return to Earth

Doja Cat and Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn Pack on the PDA After Noah Schnapp DM Drama

Doja Cat said let me be your woman, and two years later it looks like Joseph Quinn accepted.The Gram

Alabama says law cannot block people with certain felony convictions from voting in 2024 election

MONTGOMERY, Ala (AP) — Alabama says a new state law expanding the list of felonies that cause a pers