The three bodies found in a seaside resort in northwest Mexico have a “high probability” of being those of two Australian surfers and an American who disappeared last week, local authorities announced on Saturday.
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.
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.
The mother of the two Australians, Debra Robinson, indicated on Facebook that they never arrived at the accommodation they had booked.
Bodies found in a well
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.
Another body was discovered in the same place, the prosecutor said, adding that analyzes showed that it had been there for a longer time and had nothing to do with the disappearance of the three surfers.
Three Mexicans arrested
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 these disappearances as “very worrying” on Friday.
“We hope that these brothers will be found safe and sound, but there are real concerns about their disappearance. It is obvious that their mother is very distressed by this situation. We hope for a positive outcome,” Anthony Albanese told Channel 7 television in Sydney.
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.
