MEXICO CITY –
Mexican authorities said Friday that three bodies were recovered in an area of Baja California near where two Australians and an American went missing last weekend during an apparent camping and surfing trip.
The state prosecutor’s office did not say whether the bodies were those of the three foreigners, but said they were discovered during the search for the missing people. He also announced that three people who were being questioned in the missing persons case had been arrested and charged.
“Three bodies were found south of the city of Ensenada, which were recovered in coordination with other authorities during a specialized operation because they were found in an area that was difficult to access,” the agency said in a statement.
“This was done as part of the search for two missing Australians and one American,” the office said.
The site where the bodies were discovered near the municipality of Santo Tomás was near the remote coastal area where the tents and truck of the missing men were found on Thursday on a remote stretch of coast.
The men, identified by relatives as brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, disappeared on Saturday. They did not show up at the planned accommodation during the weekend.
The US State Department said: “We are aware of these reports (of the bodies) and are closely monitoring the situation. We have no further comment at this time.”
Baja California prosecutors had said Thursday that they were questioning three people in the case. On Friday, the office said the three had been arrested and charged with a crime equivalent to kidnapping. It was unclear whether they could face more charges.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the state’s attorney general, said the evidence found along with the abandoned tents was related to the three people questioned about the missing foreigners.
“A work team (of investigators) is at the site where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence were found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation,” Andrade Ramírez said Thursday. “There is a lot of important information that we cannot make public.”
While drug cartels are active in the area, he 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’s Facebook page an appeal for help finding her children. Robinson said she had not heard from Callum and Jake since April 27. They had booked accommodation in the nearby city of Rosarito.
Robinson said one of his sons, Callum, was diabetic. He also mentioned that the American accompanying them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm this. The US State Department said it was aware of reports of a US citizen missing in Baja, but did not provide further details.
Andrade Ramírez said his office was in contact with Australian and US officials. But he suggested the elapsed time could make it harder to find the missing trio.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the last few days that he was reported missing. So, that meant hours or important time was lost,” he said.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, died in the western state of Sinaloa, across the Gulf of California – also known as the Sea of Cortez – from the Baja California peninsula. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits. In that case three suspects were arrested.