Earlier, the US Federal Police office in San Diego, California, announced that “three deceased individuals were found in Santo Tomas, Baja California”, without revealing the identity of the victims. Santo Tomas is located about 45 kilometers southeast of Ensenada, in a region of Mexico marked by drug cartel violence.
State Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade told reporters that the bodies are in an “advanced state of decomposition,” making it difficult to fully identify them.
“However, given their clothing and certain characteristics such as long hair and specific physical descriptions, the probability is high,” she said, when asked about the possibility that these were the three foreigners carried disappeared.
Another body was discovered in the same place, she added, specifying that analyzes showed that it had been there for longer and had nothing to do with the disappearance of the three surfers.
Two Australian brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson, and an American, Jack Carter, surfing enthusiasts, were last seen on April 27 in Bocana de Santo Tomas, a seaside resort in the municipality of Ensenada.
Journalists deployed to the area saw rescue teams and forensic experts extract, using a pulley system, what appeared to be bodies covered in mud from a well in a cliff above above the Pacific.
More than a dozen responders, including federal agents, state police, forensic experts and military personnel, were at work Friday in the difficult-to-access cliff area.
Three arrests
The mother of the two Australians, Debra Robinson, indicated on Facebook that they never arrived at the accommodation they had booked.
On Thursday, authorities in Baja California indicated that three Mexicans had been arrested and were being questioned in connection with these disappearances.
“A white pickup truck was found, as well as other evidence,” the state prosecutor said in a statement, specifying that the investigation was taking place in coordination with American and Australian authorities.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the disappearances as “very worrying” on Friday.
“We hope that these brothers will be found safe and sound, but their disappearance raises real concerns. It is obvious that their mother is very distressed by this situation. We hope for a positive outcome,” Mr. Albanese told the television channel Sydney Channel 7.
A spokesperson for the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the ministry was in regular contact with the families of the missing Australians during this “very distressing moment”.
“The Australian Embassy in Mexico is working closely with the Australian Federal Police and local authorities regarding the two Australians missing in Mexico,” he said.
The famous beaches of Baja California are frequented by many American vacationers, who take advantage of the proximity to the border with the United States. But this state is also one of the most violent in Mexico due to the presence of criminal groups.
In November 2015, two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were killed in the state of Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.
And in March 2023, suspected members of the Gulf Cartel kidnapped four Americans in the city of Matamoros, on the American border. Two of them were killed.
The wave of violence that has engulfed Mexico since the federal government launched a controversial anti-drug operation at the end of 2006 has left more than 450,000 dead and 100,000 missing.
