The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men, people wearing blindfolds and plenty of activity around a ranch. Authorities headed for the rural area east of Matamoros on Tuesday morning, leaving the highway and driving remote dirt roads looking for the described location, according to Mexican investigative documents viewed Friday by The Associated Press. Finally, they saw the wooden shack far from any homes or businesses, surrounded by brush, and a white pickup parked outside that matched the one the Americans had been loaded into last Friday. Then they began to hear someone shouting, “Help!” Inside the shack, the documents said, Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric Williams were blindfolded. Beside them were the bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, wrapped in blankets and plastic bags. When authorities arrived, McGee and Williams shouted desperately to them in English. A guard who tried to escape out a back door was quickly apprehended, the documents said. He was wearing a tactical vest, but there is no mention of him being armed. Also Read: Two kidnapped Americans found dead in Mexico, 2 others alive The four Americans had crossed into Matamoros from Texas so that McGee could have cosmetic surgery. About midday, they were fired on in downtown Matamoros and then loaded into the pickup truck. Another friend, who remained in Brownsville, called police after being unable to reach the group that crossed the border. A Mexican woman, Areli Pablo Servando, 33, was also killed, apparently by a stray bullet. In the letter obtained by The Associated Press through a Tamaulipas state law enforcement official Thursday, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros where the Americans were kidnapped, Servando, and the four Americans and their families. But relatives of the abducted Americans said that the purported apology has done little to dull the pain of their loved ones being killed or wounded. Woodard’s father said he was speechless upon hearing that the cartel had apologized for the violent abduction captured in video that spread quickly online. “I’ve just been trying to make sense out of it for a whole week. Just restless, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. It’s just crazy to see your own child taken from you in such a way, in a violent way like that. He didn’t deserve it,” James Woodard told reporters Thursday, referring to his son’s death. The cousin of Williams, who was shot in the left leg during the kidnapping, said his family feels “great” knowing he’s alive but does not accept any apologies from the cartel. “It ain’t gonna change nothing about the suffering that we went through,” Jerry Wallace told the AP on Thursday. Wallace, 62, called for the American and Mexican governments to better address cartel violence. U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar told reporters Friday that U.S. officials had contacted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador directly over the weekend to ask for help in locating the missing Americans in Matamoros. He said the cartel there “must be dismantled.” The letter attributed to the cartel condemned last week’s violence and said the gang turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible. “We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter reads, adding that those individuals had gone against the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.” A photograph of five bound men face-down on the pavement accompanied the letter, which was shared with The Associated Press by the official on condition that they remain anonymous because they were not authorized to share the document. A separate state security official said that five men had been found tied up inside one of the vehicles that authorities had been searching for, along with the letter. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case. On Friday, Tamaulipas state prosecutor Irving Barrios said via Twitter that five people related to the violence had been arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping and homicide. He said only one other person had been arrested in recent days.

The body of a minor, who went missing after an overcrowded boat she was on capsized in the Karatoa River in Boda upazila of Panchagarh in September, was recovered from the river -  47 days after the tragedy in the Aulia Ghat area Friday noon. The deceased Joya Rani, 4, daughter of Dhirendranath of Ghatiarpara area of Panchagarh. So far, 71 bodies have been recovered in this tragic incident while one is still missing, said Sujoy Kumar Roy, officer-in-charge of Boda police station. Police said a group of workers was picking up stones near Aulia Ghat on Friday noon. At one point, a strong stench started coming from the stone pit. At this time, while removing the sand, Jaya's partially decayed body was found. The relatives of the missing people rushed upon getting the news and they identified her as Jaya by looking at the clothes, added the OC. Later, the body was handed over to her family in the presence of local public representatives. Earlier on Wednesday, the body of Bhupendranath Roy alias Paniya was recovered from the same area. On September 25, an engine boat carrying mostly Hindu devotees, heading towards Badheshwar Temple on the occasion of Mahalaya, sank near Aulia Ghat under Mareya union of Boda upazila in Panchagarh. Read more: Missing college student's body found in Pangasia canal

Rahima Begum of Khulna's Daulatpur, who had been missing since August 27, was found alive in Faridpur, police said. Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) found her alive in Faridpur's Boalmari at around 10:45 pm Saturday, KMP Deputy Commissioner (North) Molla Jahangir Hossain told UNB. "A team of police conducted a drive in Syedpur village after receiving information that Rahima had gone into hiding there. They are now on their way to Khulna," Molla Jahangir added. The development comes after 52-year-old Rahima's elder daughter Moriom Mannan, whose campaign to find her mother for almost a month touched the nation, suspected that the body of an unidentified woman buried in Mymensingh recently was her mother's. Aslo, Moriom, in a Facebook post, said they had put up "missing" posters in Khulna city, hoping that they would get their mother back. On August 27, Rahima went missing after she had left her home in the Banikpara area of Doulatpur at 10pm to bring water. Her daughters found her sandals, scarf and water pot. A newer pair of sandals though, had gone missing and that fuelled speculation that she had left home on her own.  The family first filed a complaint with the police, based on which the law enforcement lodged a first information report (FIR) against some people over Rahima's disappearance. On September 13, after Rahima remained missing for 17 days and police failed to find her, her younger daughter Aduri Akter appealed to a Khulna court to transfer the case to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Moriom said. Family members said Rahima often received death threats from some of her neighbours whom she had sued in 2019 over a land dispute. Also read: Missing Khulna woman found dead in Mymensingh, family suspects  

A 37-year-old trader was found dead with a piece of cloth stuffed into his mouth, near a railway track in Jashore on Friday, police said. The deceased was identified as Lablu, the son of Abdul Mannan of the Kholadanga Colony Para area. His body was found adjacent to Kholadanga railway track in Arabpur union around 11am, said Tajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station. READ: 6 held with gold bars worth Tk 13.58 cr in Jashore Lablu’s father said they had found the body after they started searching for him as he did not return home on Thursday night. OC Tajul said the body was sent for an autopsy. "Efforts are on to identify and nab the culprits," he said.

Police on Saturday recovered the body of a man from the Dharala River three days after he had gone missing from Kurigram Sadar upazila. The deceased was identified as Asgar Ali, 60, resident of Uttar Nawabshah village under Panchgachhi union of Kurigram Sadar upazila. Locals found his body floating in the river informed police. Also read: Missing child's body found in Naogaon madrasa’s septic tank Azizul Haque, son of the deceased, said, "My father went out of the house around 11 am  on Thursday to feed the cattle. Though the cattle returned home he didn’t.” Kurigram Sadar Police officer-in-Charge (OC) Khan Mohammad Shahriar said the body of Asgar was recovered from the Dharala River. Action will be taken after an investigation, he said. Also read: Carpenter’s decapitated body found in Chattogram

A body of a man was recovered inside a sack at the bank of the Shitalakshya river in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon on Tuesday evening.  The identity of the man could not be ascertained yet but his age might be 40, said the police. The body was found in a sack filled with bricks near the playground of Manjilkhola Madrasa in Kanchpur Union of the upazila. Police said that in the afternoon, local children and teenagers went to play in the area and spotted a big sack lying on the bank of the river. Out of curiosity they opened the sack and found the dead body. Locals later informed the police. READ: Teen housewife 'raped' on moving bus in Narayanganj,  3 held Sonargaon Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Hafizur Rahman said the body was recovered from the spot but the identity could not be known yet. Additional Superintendent of Police (B Circle) Md. Billal Hossain said, “We are trying to identify the body. The body will be sent to the morgue of Sadar (Victoria) Hospital for autopsy.” READ: Father, daughter killed in Narayanganj road crash; 1 injured

A 26-year-old woman has been found dead inside a locked cabin on a launch that plies on the Dhaka-Barishal route. The deceased was identified as Sharmin Aktar, daughter of Enayet Hossain Fakir and a resident of Dhaka’s Kunipara area. Police recovered the body from one of the mariner’s rooms on the ground floor of the Barishal-bound launch, MV Kuakata-2, on Friday morning. READ: Trawler sinks in Bay: 13 Bhola fishermen go missing Mariner Md Shohag said he rented the room for Tk 1,800 a night to a man and woman who had identified themselves as husband and wife. As the room was locked from outside in the morning, the launch authorities broke open the door only to find the girl’s body. "The body has been sent for an autopsy. We are scanning the CCTV footage to ascertain the facts," said Lokman Hossain, inspector of Kotwali model police station.  "Efforts are on to contact her family." Habibur Rahman, additional superintendent of Barishal naval police, said they suspect the woman was murdered. READ: 2 missing as trawler capsizes in Shitalakkhya