Mexican authorities stated, this Saturday (4), that the three bodies found in a well in Ensenada, in the state of Baja California, are probably those of the Australians and Americans who disappeared last week.
State prosecutor María Elena Andrade told journalists that the bodies, removed on Friday from a well in a cliff, are in an “advanced state of decomposition”, which makes their complete identification difficult.
“However, regarding their clothing and some characteristics such as long hair and some specific physical descriptions, we have this high probability,” he said in response to a question about whether they could be the three foreigners reported missing.
Mexican authorities, in collaboration with the American FBI and the Australian consulate, are investigating the causes of death of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter.
The lifeless bodies “bring together the characteristics to assume with a high degree of probability that they are those of the American Carter, as well as the Robinson brothers from Australia”, Andrade added.
The three surfers were last seen on April 27 in Bocana de Santo Tomás, a tourist destination in the municipality of Ensenada, in the state of Baja California, on the border with the United States.
In that same tourist area, the bodies were found early in the morning on Friday, but due to the rough terrain they were recovered in the late afternoon.
Another body was found at the site, the prosecutor confirmed, but the analyzes carried out revealed that it had been there for some time and had nothing to do with the surfers’ case.
Andrade explained that the well where they were found is more than 15 meters deep and could be used by criminals to hide the remains of their victims.
Andrade said that one of the lines of investigation into the disappearance of the young people is the attempted robbery of the truck in which they were traveling, which was found on fire nearby.
On Friday, the bodies were found on a difficult-to-access cliff in the Bocana area of Santo Tomás, an area very popular with surfers.
Authorities arrested three people allegedly in connection with the disappearance of the foreigners.
The resorts of Baja California, a state with a presence of criminal groups, are visited by numerous American travelers, who take advantage of the proximity to the border.
In November 2015, two Australian surfers, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were murdered and their bodies incinerated while traveling in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.
In March 2023, alleged members of the Gulf Cartel kidnapped four Americans in the city of Matamoros (Tamaulipas, on the border with the United States). Two of them were murdered.
The spiral of criminal violence that engulfs Mexico has left more than 450,000 dead and more than 100,000 missing since, at the end of 2006, the federal government launched a controversial anti-drug strategy with the active participation of military forces.
