Three bodies have turned up in Baja California, in the area where two Australian brothers and an American vanished while on a surfing trip.
The FBI said the remains were found in the town of Santo Tomas and had not yet been identified, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. The men were Jake Robinson, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, both from Perth, and Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, from the United States. They had gone to the coast near Ensenada to surf and disappeared on 27 April.
Nobody has confirmed who the dead are. Baja California’s chief prosecutor, María Elena Andrade Ramírez, came close when she spoke to Australia’s 9News. “I’m saying it’s a very, very high probability that it is them,” she said. The bodies were badly decomposed, she added, which is why genetic tests are needed. A state laboratory will run the forensic work, her office said.
Questioned, with warrants issued
On Thursday, police questioned a woman and two men about the disappearance. On Friday the prosecutor’s office said it had obtained arrest warrants for the crime of forced disappearance.
Searchers had already found a set of abandoned tents, a burnt white pickup truck and a phone linked to the missing men. A team that included firefighters had been combing a remote cliff area for the trio.
The FBI told CBS News it “cannot comment on specifics” but that “we are assessing every tip”. It went on: “If credible, we will pursue those leads with rigour. We are in contact with the family of the US citizen, and we are steadfast with our international law enforcement partners in finding answers.”
A surf spot in a violent state
Ensenada sits 90 minutes south of the US-Mexico border, and its surf has drawn visitors from California for years. The state around it has a harder reputation. Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent, with local drug gangs fighting turf wars.
