Mexican authorities confirmed on Sunday that the American and the two Australian tourists who disappeared last week in northern Mexico are dead, after their bodies were identified by their parents, Reuters reports.
Photos of missing foreign surfers on the beach in Ensenada, MexicoPhoto: Karen Castaneda / AP / Profimedia
The bodies of Australian brothers Callum, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, as well as American Carter Rhoad, 30, were found at the bottom of a well in the state of Baja California. at the beginning of this week, after days of searching, notes News.ro.
The three strangers disappeared while on a surfing vacation near the popular tourist town of Ensenada, about 90 minutes south of the US-Mexico border on the Pacific coast.
The Office of the Attorney General of the State of Baja California specified in a statement that this confirmation was issued after the parents of the victims “managed to identify the bodies, without the need for genetic tests”.
The state’s attorney general, Elena Andrade, told the parents and diplomatic officials that there is “a total institutional commitment to continue the investigation of these unfortunate events until those responsible receive the full weight of the law”, the statement also states.
On Saturday, Andrade said that the bodies were found in an advanced state of decomposition at the bottom of a well more than 15 meters deep.
A source in the attorney general’s office told Reuters that all three bodies had a bullet in their head.
Three people have been arrested so far, say the authorities. A burnt out vehicle believed to have been used by the three surfers was also found in the area.
The preliminary hypothesis of the Mexican authorities is that the arrested individuals tried to steal the foreigners’ car, and when the surfers resisted, they were shot and their bodies were thrown into the well.
The three surfers were last seen on April 27 and were reported missing days later as authorities launched a multi-day search with the help of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Baja California is one of the most violent states in Mexico, although the Ensenada area is considered safer. The US State Department is advising Americans to reconsider travel to this state due to crime and kidnappings.
