Worst News Confirmed in Case of Missing American Tourist; Three Suspects Now in Custody
A desperate search has come to the worst end.
An American and two Australians have been confirmed dead after a search to find them in Mexico turned up four bodies in a water well about 50 miles south of the border in Baja California on Sunday.
The three friends on a surfing vacation had been missing since April 27, according to KGTV in San Diego.
The American, Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, was a native of the San Diego area. He was accompanied by Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 30, and Jake Robinson, 33.
#Breaking: Mexican authorities said Sunday that the bodies discovered south of Ensenada are identified as the three missing surfers https://t.co/zeFcY10xe4
— ABC 10News San Diego (@10News) May 6, 2024
Callum Robinson resided near San Diego while Jake Robinson was in the U.S. visiting him.
The bodies were discovered in the well in a remote area near the city of Ensenada near the Mexican Pacific coast several days ago.
They were positively identified Sunday evening, KGTV reported.
Family members of all three men traveled south of the border to help police identify the bodies, according to 9News Australia.
Callum and Jake Robinson have now been confirmed dead, after their parents today made the heartbreaking journey to Ensenada in Mexico to identify their bodies. @APiotrowski9 #9News
READ MORE: https://t.co/5FwO1i7f5w pic.twitter.com/11smOrmXJy
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) May 6, 2024
The fourth body in the well had been placed lower than those of the missing surfers and it is not believed to be connected with the triple homicide.
Baja California State Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez told reporters the men were all shot to death by thieves who were apparently attempting to steal the tires from a pickup truck they had been traveling in.
There were signs that the three surfers confronted the would-be thieves before shots were fired at them.
Each of the victims had been shot in the head.
Shell casings, blood stains, and a burned-out tent were discovered at a temporary camp the men had set up.
They had been staying in a nearby Airbnb and were in Mexico to surf and to celebrate a birthday.
Ramirez said it is not believed drug cartels were involved in the slayings. Two men and one woman were in custody on Sunday evening and were all expected to be charged with murder, 9News Australia reported.
The names of those arrested have not been released to the public but one of the men was initially charged with the forced disappearance of people, according to The Washington Post.
As of Monday morning, it wasn’t clear what — if anything — the other two people being held in connection with the deaths had been charged with.
At a news conference Sunday, Ramirez said she does not believe the men were targeted because they were foreign to Mexico but because their white Chevrolet Colorado truck – which was also burned – presented would-be thieves with an opportunity.
“It was not an attack [on them] as tourists,” Ramirez said. “It was in the capacity of stealing a vehicle.”
The FBI is assisting Mexican authorities in their ongoing investigation.
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