Many women want to get plastic surgery and choose to go out of the country where it’s cheaper. For one woman the decision to do so resulted in her never making it to the appointment and two of the friends she traveled to Mexico with being kidnapped and and killed by the drug cartel.

On Friday, gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week so one of them could undergo a cosmetic surgical procedure but were caught in a shootout that killed at least one Mexican citizen, U.S. and Mexican officials said Monday.

The American citizens crossed into Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas, in a white minivan with South Carolina plates on Friday.

“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen shot the passengers of the vehicle. The gunmen herded the four U.S. citizens into another vehicle and fled the scene with them,” according to the embassy.

One of the four Americans kidnapped was identified  as LaTavia Washington McGee from  North Carolina. Her driver’s license was found at the scene.

LaTavia Washington McGee

The family spokesperson said they were contacted by the FBI on Monday to confirm that McGee and three of her friends were taken.

McGee’s cousin, Shaeed Woodard,  was also kidnapped along with friends Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams; according to McGee’s mother.

According to NBC, officials said the group was targeted by Cartel gunmen in a case of mistaken identity. The cartel allegedly thought they were Jamaican drug runners.

The FBI office in San Antonio said that all four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken away from the scene by armed men.

“We are closely following the assault and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros, Mexico. These sorts of attacks are unacceptable. Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” a White House spokesperson said.

The FBI and Mexican law enforcement agencies are investigating the kidnapping while the Departments of State and Homeland Security are coordinating with Mexican authorities.

An official told NBC, U.S. authorities are concerned about the well-being of some of the group, given what they saw in videos appearing to show some of them severely wounded.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the victims’ return and the arrest of the kidnappers.

On Friday, two days before the kidnapping, shootouts in Matamoros were so bad that the U.S. Consulate issued an alert warning Americans not to travel there, in addition to local authorities warning people to shelter in place. It was not immediately clear how the abductions could have been connected to that violence Friday.

Barbara Burgess, 54, McGee’s mother, told ABC News that her daughter traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure and that before the trip, she warned her not to go.

“Ma, I’ll be okay,” Burgess said McGee replied on Wednesday before setting off.

This trip was the second time Washington McGee, a mother of six children, had gone to Mexico for a medical procedure, her mother said.

She traveled to the country for surgery about two to three years ago, Burgess said.

On Friday, the day of the appointment, Burgess said McGee called to say she was 15 minutes away from the doctor’s office. Burgess called McGee later that day but never heard back, she said.

“Her phone just started going to voicemail,” she said.

Burgess, who was listed as an emergency contact on her daughter’s paperwork, was contacted by the Dr.’s office to say her daughter never showed up to the appointment.

She was informed by the FBI on Sunday that her daughter had been kidnapped and was in danger.

“They said, if she calls me, to call them,” she said.

UPDATE:

2 Americans kidnapped in Mexico found dead and 2 found alive, Mexican officials say

(CNN) Two of the four Americans kidnapped by armed gunmen in a Mexico border city on Friday were found dead and two were found alive, Mexican officials said Tuesday.

In a phone call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that was played at a news conference, Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal Anaya said “ambulances and security personnel” were now attending to and giving medical support to the survivors.

The four Americans were located at what appears to be a medical clinic in Matamoros, a US official familiar with the ongoing investigation told CNN. One of the two survivors is severely injured, the official said.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios also confirmed the developments in a tweet.

“Derived from the joint search actions, the four American citizens deprived of their liberty last Friday were found,” he said. “Unfortunately, two dead. Investigation and intelligence work continue to capture those responsible. Details will be given later.”

A Mexican official told Reuters that two men had been found dead, while another man and a woman were safe and in the hands of authorities.