Two kidnapped Americans ‘who travelled for tummy tuck’ found dead in Mexico

A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four US citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas (AP)

Two US citizens missing since their violent kidnapping in the northern Mexican border city of Matamoros have been found dead.

Two others are alive, the state’s governor said on Tuesday.

Americo Villarreal said one of the survivors was hurt but the other was unharmed.

On Sunday, the FBI said it was searching with Mexican authorities for the missing Americas, who were abducted on Friday.

They had travelled together from South Carolina so one of them could get a tummy tuck from a Matamoros doctor, a relative said on Monday.

Shortly after entering Mexico, they were caught in the crossfire of rival cartels, with a video showing them being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen.

A Mexican woman was killed in the crossfire, officials said.

The kidnapping illustrates the terror that has prevailed for years in Matamoros, a city dominated by factions of the powerful Gulf drug cartel, who often fight among themselves.

Amid the violence, thousands of Mexicans have disappeared in Tamaulipas state alone.