Police in Ensenada, Baja Sur, Mexico found three bodies near where American Carter Rhoad and Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson disappeared on Wednesday, May 1, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The three men were in Baja for a surf trip, and were declared missing when they failed to check into their AirBnB in Rosarito, a town just south of Tijuana and the United States border. The Robinsons and Rhoad were last seen on April 28 at La Bocana, a surf spot south of Ensenada, according to Tijuana news outlet Zeta.
Andrade said investigators found tents and evidence “that can be linked to the three people we have under investigation” in the vicinity of La Bocana, including blood and dental parts in the cabin where they allegedly stayed during their trip. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday, May 3 that police found a torched truck allegedly belonging to the trio on a farm near where they were surfing. According to Zeta, state authorities detained three people in possession of drugs and a cell phone with a lockscreen photograph of one of the missing surfers.
Mexican authorities said social media posts about the trio’s disappearance had sparked the police investigation, after a missing persons poster began circulating on social media. An official missing persons report was not made until 48 hours after the men were last seen. “Very important time was lost,” Baja California Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez told reporters on Thursday.
The Robinsons mom Debra, who lives in Australia, said on social media that her son Callum—who was known as the Big Koala to his friends—was “living his dream” in San Diego, where he met Rhoad. Jake made the “trip of a lifetime” to visit his brother. “Our only comfort right now is that they were together doing something they passionately love,” the Robinsons said.
This is a developing story, Outside will continue to update it as information becomes available.
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