Brian McDonald
Three bodies have been found in a Mexican town near where three surfers – two Australians and one American – disappeared last weekend, the FBI confirmed Friday night.
In a statement to CBS News, the FBI said three bodies were found in the city of Santa Tomas, in the Mexican state of Baja California. The Baja California district attorney’s office told CBS News that the bodies have not yet been positively identified, which will be done by the state medical examiner.
“While we cannot comment on specific details to preserve the sanctity of the investigative and legal processes, as well as protect the privacy of those affected, we can assure you that we are evaluating all reports,” the FBI statement read. “If they are credible, we will follow those leads closely. We are in contact with the U.S. citizen’s family and are steadfast with our international law enforcement partners in seeking answers.”
Mexican authorities reported Thursday that they found tents and questioned three people in the case. The Pacific coast state of Baja California is a popular tourist destination that is also plagued by cartel violence.
Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend have not been seen since April 27, authorities said.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state attorney, declined to say whether the three people questioned were considered possible suspects or witnesses in the case. She only said that some were directly linked to the case and others indirectly.
But Andrade Ramírez said the evidence found along with the abandoned tents was somehow linked to the three. The three foreigners are believed to have been surfing and camping along the Baja coast near the coastal city of Ensenada, but did not show up at their planned accommodations over the weekend.
/ AP
“A work team (of investigators) is at the location where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence were found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation,” said Andrade Ramírez. “There is a lot of important information that we cannot make public.”
“We don’t know what condition they are in,” she added. Although drug cartels are active in the area, she said “all lines of investigation are open at this time. We can’t rule anything out until we find them.”
On Wednesday, the mother of the missing Australians, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page a plea for help finding her children. Robinson said he had not been heard from since Saturday, April 27. They had booked accommodations in the nearby city of Rosarito, Baja California.
Robinson said one of his sons, Callum, is diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who was with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the US Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm this. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a missing U.S. citizen in Baja, but did not provide further details.
Andrade Ramírez said his office is in contact with Australian and US authorities. But she suggested that the time that has passed could make finding them more difficult.
“Unfortunately, it was only in the last few days that they were reported missing. So this meant that important hours or time were lost,” she said.
The investigation was being coordinated with the FBI and the Australian and US consulates, the prosecutor’s office added.
In December, cartel leaders began a murderous violence to hunt down corrupt police officers who stole a shipment of drugs in Tijuana, located in Baja California.
In 2015, two Australian surfers Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez — on the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway robbers. Three suspects were arrested in that case.
AFP contributed to this report.
