Mexican authorities said Thursday they had found tents and questioned three people in the case of two Australians and an American who went missing over the weekend in the Pacific coast state of Baja California, also a popular tourist destination. plagued by cartel violence.
Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend have not been seen since April 27, officials said.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, state attorney general, did not specify whether the three people interviewed were considered suspects or possible witnesses in the case. She only said that some were directly linked to the case and others indirectly.
But Andrade Ramírez said evidence found next to the abandoned tents was somehow linked to all three. The three foreigners were reportedly surfing and camping along the Baja coast, near the coastal town of Ensenada, but failed to show up at their planned accommodation this weekend.
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“A task force (of investigators) is at the location where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence were found that could be linked to the three people we are investigating,” he said. declared Andrade Ramírez. “There is a lot of important information that we cannot make public.”
“We don’t know what condition they are in,” she added. Even though drug cartels are active in the region, she said “all avenues of investigation are open at this time. We can’t rule anything out until we uncover them.”
On Wednesday, the mother of the missing Australians, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page a plea for help to find her sons. Robinson said her son hasn’t been heard from since Saturday, April 27. They had booked accommodation in the nearby town of Rosarito, Baja California.
Robinson said one of his sons, Callum, was diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who accompanied them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm this. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a missing U.S. citizen in Baja, but gave no further details.
Andrade Ramírez said his office was in contact with Australian and American officials. But she suggested the time that had passed could make it more difficult to find them.
“Unfortunately, it was only in the last few days that they were reported missing, so that means significant hours or time was lost,” she said.
The investigation is being coordinated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian and US consulates, the prosecutor’s office added.
Baja California, known for its welcoming beaches, is also one of the most violent states in Mexico thanks to organized crime groups.
In December, cartel leaders launched a killing to track down corrupt police officers who stole a drug shipment in Tijuana, located in Baja California.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California – also known as the Sea of Cortés – from the Baja Peninsula. The authorities say they were victims of highwaymen. Three suspects were arrested in this case.
AFP contributed to this report.
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