Tijuana, Mexico: Authorities announced on Sunday that three bodies, believed to be those of two Australian brothers and an American who vanished during a surfing excursion in Mexico, were found with gunshot wounds to the head.
State prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade stated during a press conference that relatives of the Australians, Callum and Jake Robinson, along with their American friend Jack Carter, were assisting in the identification process after arriving in Mexico.
“The relatives arrived in the United States (on Saturday) and today they presented themselves to the prosecutor’s office,” she said.
Andrade explained, “The victims all have gunshot wounds to the head.” She added that the likely motive behind the incident was an attempted theft of their pick-up truck, which was discovered nearby, burned.
According to authorities, three suspects, including a woman, have been apprehended in connection with the case.
The bodies, recovered from a cliff-top shaft in Baja California, a state plagued by crime, were in an advanced state of decomposition, Andrade stated. However, based on clothing and physical characteristics, there is a high probability that they belong to the missing trio.
Another body found at the site was unrelated to the others, officials clarified.
Journalists observed authorities utilizing a pulley system to retrieve the bodies from the muddy shaft near the town of Santo Thomas.
Debra Robinson, the mother of the Australian brothers, raised concerns on a Facebook page for Baja California tourists after losing contact with them. Callum Robinson, 33, had previously played in the US Premier Lacrosse League, while Jake Robinson, 30, was a doctor in Perth, Australia.
Baja California, known for its scenic beaches, is a popular destination for US tourists, although it has seen violence due to organized crime. However, such violence rarely affects foreign tourists.
This incident bears similarities to the 2015 case of two Australian surfers murdered and burned in Sinaloa, Mexico. Criminal violence in Mexico has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and led to numerous disappearances since the government initiated an anti-drug strategy in 2006.
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