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The bodies are believed to be those of the two Australians and one American who disappeared in the Pacific state of Baja California showed the three men were killed by gunshots to the head, Mexican authorities said Sunday.
Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez, the state’s attorney general, said the families of the missing men had arrived in Tijuana to verbally identify the bodies. Authorities are expected to receive official confirmation soon.
Callum and Jake Robinson, both 30, were an Australian brother and sister from Perth. Jake was visiting Callum, who lived in San Diego, California, for a planned surfing vacation, with their friend Jack Carter Road, an American citizen who also lived in San Diego. The trio were reported missing when they failed to check into their pre-arranged accommodation in Rosarito, Mexicolast weekend.
The bodies were found dumped in a remote well about 15 meters deep, about 6 kilometers from the campsite where the foreigners were killed. If relatives cannot identify the bodies, genetic tests will be done.
“The probability that it’s them is very high,” Andrade Ramirez said.
The preliminary hypothesis of the investigation is that the missing men were attacked by people who wanted to steal their car, partly because they wanted the tires.
“The attackers drove by [the travellers’ campsite] in their vehicle,” Andrade Ramirez said. “They approached with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tires and other parts to put on the older model pickup they were driving.
“On approach and surprise [the missing men]certainly there was resistance and these people, the assailants, pulled out any firearms they had and took their own lives.
“When what was supposed to be a robbery got out of hand, they tried to get rid of the bodies by throwing them into a well.
“They were not attacked because they were tourists, the intention was to steal their vehicle.”
The attackers burned the tents and covered the well with boards, he said.
Journalists asked whether organized crime was involved and whether the fact that they were all killed by headshots suggested some type of execution. Andrade Ramirez declined to speculate, saying the carjacking hypothesis is what authorities have for now.
“The investigation has just begun,” Andrade Ramirez said.
Three Mexican nationals have been detained, one of whom is accused of kidnapping.
The other two are being held for possession of crystal meth, although Andrade Ramirez did not rule out the possibility that they were connected to the crime.
“In fact, we are certain that more people were involved in the attack,” he said.
At least one of the suspects is believed to have been directly involved in the killings. In accordance with Mexican law, prosecutors identified him only by his first name, Jesus Gerardo, also known as “el Quecas,” a slang word that means quesadillas or cheese tortillas.
Dozens of mourners, surfers and demonstrators gathered in the main square in Ensenada, the nearest city, to express their anger and sadness at the death.
“Ensenada is a mass grave,” read one placard carried by protesters. “Australia, we’re with you,” one man scrawled on one of half a dozen surfboards at the demonstration.
One woman held up a sign reading “They just wanted to surf – we want safe beaches.”
The men had planned a camping trip near the beach, then an Airbnb stay in Rosarito, Mexico, according to social media posts by friends and family. But they never checked into Airbnb and Callum Robinson didn’t show up for work in San Diego as scheduled.
The missing men’s tents and burned-out truck were found Thursday along a remote stretch of shoreline.
The brothers’ parents, Martin and Debra Robinson, told Australian media they were heading to Mexico to be close by during the search.
“Callum and Jake are beautiful human beings. We love them so much and it breaks our hearts,” they said in a statement.
On Friday, four bodies were found in a covered well on an isolated ranch six or seven kilometers from where the missing men’s car was found.
Three of the bodies had been there five to seven days before they were found Friday, authorities said. A fourth body was also found in the well, believed to have been there for 15 to 30 days.
Andrade Ramirez said authorities do not believe the attackers knew the victims were tourists, and stressed that Baja California is still safe for tourists.
In 2023, there were more than 30,000 murders in Mexico for the sixth consecutive year. More than 100,000 people are missing.
In 2015, West Australian surfers Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas were killed, believed to have been shot by gang members in the neighboring Sinaloa region, before their van and bodies were burnt.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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