How a trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery turned deadly for US quartet

Deaths of two of four Americans kidnapped in Matamoros place spotlight on cartels' impunity - and on medical tourism

Latavia Tay" Washington McGee had scheduled an abdominal operation that many mothers have, and she chose to have the operation done in Mexico, where medical costs are cheaper - and where she had previously gone for other cosmetic procedures.

A cousin and a couple of friends joined her to share the 1,400-mile drive from her home town of Lake City, South Carolina, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, just south of the US-Mexico frontier.