Bodies found during search for 3 tourists after they went missing in Mexico, FBI says
Topics: Australia, Crime, Mexico, US News, World News
Bec Oakes
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Facebook
Topics: Australia, Crime, Mexico, US News, World News
The FBI may be closer to finding three tourists who went missing in Mexico after bodies were found in the region.
Brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, from Perth, were travelling in northern Mexico with American tourist Jack Carter Rhoad when they disappeared.
The trio were believed to have been staying at the popular surfing spot Punta San Jose, but then failed to arrive at accommodation in the city of Rosarito.
The brothers' mom revealed on social media that she hadn't heard from them since 27 April and appealed for anybody with information on their whereabouts to step forward.
Advert
"Callum is a Type 1 diabetic, so there is also a medical concern," she wrote. "Please contact me if you have seen them or know their whereabouts."
Soon after social media posts surfaced about their disappearance, police in Mexico got involved in the search for the three men.
Now, the FBI has confirmed that three bodies have been found in a Mexican town near where the surfers disappeared, although they have not been identified as the missing trio.
The bodies are yet to be identified by the state medical examiner.
In a statement to CBS News, the FBI said that three bodies had been found in Santa Tomas in the Mexican state of Baja California.
"While we cannot comment on specifics to preserve the sanctity of the investigative and legal processes, along with protecting the privacy of those impacted, we can assure you that we are assessing every tip," the FBI's statement read.
"If credible, we will pursue those leads with rigor. We are in contact with the family of the U.S. Citizen, and we are steadfast with our international law enforcement partners in finding answers."
Earlier in the week, Mexican authorities reported that three people had been arrested in relation to the case - two men and one woman.
Baja California State Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade said: "A working team [of investigators] is at the site where [the tourists] were last seen, where tents and other evidence was found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation.
"There is a lot of important information that we can't make public.
"We do not know what condition they are in," she added. While drug cartels are active in the area, she said: "All lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them."