Mexican officials said Friday that they had found bodies in a location where three tourists - two Australian brothers and an American - were reported missing.
The bodies were found in a fishing and camping cove in Ensenada, Baja California, a state plagued by crime and violence.
Officials said Thursday that they were questioning three people in connection with the case. It was not immediately clear if the people were suspects in the tourists’ deaths.
An Australian news outlet reported that the parents of brothers Jake and Callum Robinson were on their way to Mexico “to be as close as possible to the area where” their sons were last seen.
The outlet reported all three people being questioned were in possession of drugs and that a woman in the group had the cellphone of one of the Australians.
Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez, the state’s chief prosecutor, said Thursday that evidence, including tents, linked to the missing men had been found and that investigators had uncovered “a lot of important information that we can’t make public.”
The prosecutor said her office was not immediately notified about the men’s disappearance, which “meant that important hours or time was lost.”
The Callums and and Jack Carter Rhoad, who were on a surfing vacation, were last seen April 27, according to authorities. Baja California authorities officially announced the men’s disappearance Thursday.
The Associated Press said Debra Robinson, the Australians' mother, had posted a notice on Facebook asking for help in finding her sons who were traveling with an American.
“Reaching out to anyone who has seen my two sons,” Robinson posted on Facebook. “They have not contacted us since Saturday 27th April. ... traveling with another friend an American citizen. ... They were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend, but they did not show up.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper reported Callum Johnson had not reported for work at his job in San Diego.
A spokesperson for Australia's Foreign Ministry said the Australian Embassy in Mexico was working closely with Mexican authorities and the Australian Federal Police and was in regular contact with the family to provide support.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
