The bodies of three surfers – two Australians and one American – who went missing last weekend were found with gunshot wounds, Baja California state prosecutors said Sunday.
Officials confirmed that the bodies found last week belonged to the missing surfers, Baja California state attorney general María Elena Andrade Ramírez said Sunday. Officials had initially been waiting for DNA tests to confirm that the remains found belonged to the surfers, but relatives of the victims were able to identify the bodies, Andrade Ramirez said.
The Australian victims were identified by the Mexican government as Jake and Callum Robinson and the American as Jack Carter Rhoad.
The FBI confirmed on Friday that three bodies had been found. Mexican officials said the bodies were found in a well more than 50 feet deep. A fourth body was found in the well, but authorities said they do not believe the final body is related to the missing surfers. The bodies were found in the town of Santa Tomàs, in the Mexican state of Baja California.
The missing Australians and their American friend were last seen in late April, officials said. The researchers examined the area where the surfers had camped in Mexico. They found tent poles, a cartridge casing, plastic gallon bottles, blood stains and drag marks.
Andrade Ramirez said the victims are believed to have been struck by his truck. He said the killers drove by and saw the foreigners' van and tents and wanted to steal their tires.
“The assailants drove by in their vehicle,” said Andrade Ramírez. “They approached, intending to steal his vehicle and take the tires and other parts to put in the older model pickup truck they were driving.
“When they (foreigners) came and caught them, surely, they resisted,” he said. “And these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first killed whoever was resisting the theft of the vehicle, and then others came and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been assaulted, and they also killed them.”
The assailants then apparently burned the foreigners' tents.
Jesús Gerardo, an alleged suspect in the case, is currently in jail, while two others are in pretrial detention as officials further investigate the case, authorities said. Jesús Gerardo, whose alias is “El Kekas”, has a criminal record.
The authorities have not ruled out that the other two, a man and a woman who have not been identified, could be “directly or indirectly related to this case”, said Andrade Ramírez.
The Pacific coast state of Baja California is a popular tourist destination that is also plagued by cartel violence. The US State Department warns that Americans should reconsider travel to the region due to crime and kidnapping.
On Wednesday, the Australians' mother, Debra Robinson, posted on the local community's Facebook page an appeal for help to find her children. Robinson said her son had not been heard from since Saturday, April 27.
AFP contributed to this report.
