According to Cheryl Orange, she traveled to the southern border with four friends, Latavia McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown, and Shaeed Woodard, to support her friend’s tummy tuck procedure.
They drove a rented minivan from South Carolina and arrived at the Texas border on Thursday.
On Friday morning, four of them proceeded to Mexico, but Cheryl was unable to join them due to lack of adequate identification.
They left her at the hotel, promising to be back in 15 minutes.
Cheryl recounted that when she informed her friends that she did not have adequate identification, they dropped her off at the hotel with the promise of returning in 15 minutes.
However, as the minutes passed by and her friends failed to show up, Cheryl grew increasingly anxious and fearful that something was not right.
Exhausted from the long journey, she took a shower and lay down on the bed, only to fall asleep.
When she woke up, it was already 5 pm, and her friends had not returned or made any contact with her. Cheryl sought information from the hotel staff, but they were unable to help her.
Fearing the worst, she contacted her boyfriend, Tay’s brother, and her roommate, alerting them that something was amiss. As the hours passed by and there was still no word from her friends, Cheryl became increasingly alarmed.
Finally, just minutes before checkout, she called the police. Cheryl later saw footage which purported to show her friends being kidnapped by cartel members and forced into a white truck.
Cheryl described her initial reaction to the news of her friends’ abduction, saying, “I dropped the phone, my body clenched up, my stomach was in knots and I just began praying for their safe return.”
Prior to the incident, she admitted that she had little knowledge of the dangerous realities of cartel violence, but after researching it, she began to fear the worst.
“I want people to be kind and understand that everyone has a past,” Cheryl said. “What happened to my friends was unjust, and they did not deserve it.
They were beautiful people.” She also mentioned that Latavia had expressed gratitude to her during a recent conversation. Meanwhile, news reports revealed that police had found a stolen Lamborghini near the shack where the cartel had kept Eric and Latavia, along with the remains of their deceased companions.
While authorities discovered that the group had extensive criminal histories, Cheryl maintained that their reason for traveling to the border was for a cosmetic procedure.
However, a police report indicated that Cheryl seemed anxious and smelled of marijuana. The report also noted that she did not know the specifics of Latavia’s surgery, although she believed it to be a gluteal augmentation.
Additionally, Cheryl acknowledged that she would not be surprised if her friends were arrested, as they were known to indulge in partying and drug use.
