On April 27, three surfers went missing during a trip to Ensenada, Mexico. Last Friday, three bodies were found in a well with gunshot wounds to the head. On Sunday, the missing surfers’ families identified these bodies as their lost loved ones, officials confirmed.
According to BBC, the men were Australian brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson, and Jack Carter Rhoad, their American friend. The men were reported missing when they didn’t check into their accommodation in Rosarito, Mexico, The Guardian reported.
The men, all in their early 30s, are believed to have been victims of a robbery gone south. Baja California state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez believes the men attempted to stop thieves from stealing their truck and were killed in the process. The truck, she said, was likely being stolen for its tires.
“The attackers drove by (the travelers’ campsite) in their vehicle. ... They approached, with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tires and other parts to put them on the older-model pickup they were driving,” Andrade Ramírez said, per The Guardian.
“When what was meant to be a robbery had got out of control, they tried to dispose of the bodies by throwing them into a well,” she concluded.
Andrade Ramírez emphasized that they weren’t killed for being tourists, but only for their truck tires.
Their bodies were found roughly 4 miles away from where they were attacked. Authorities also located the men’s belongings and camp gear nearby. Upon recovery of the surfers’ bodies from the well, authorities discovered a fourth body that they say had been there longer and whose connection to the criminals investigators are working to ascertain.
The fourth body is not connected to the other murders, though, per Yahoo News.
How has the community reacted?
According to reporting from Al Jazeera, locals and the surfing community in Ensenada are protesting in the wake of the gruesome discovery. They want accountability to be taken as well as safety for the community.
One protester said, “I think that what happened to them is just an example of the lack of safety in this state and we want to fight to feel safer.”
Protesters wrote messages on their surfboards. One said, “Ensenada is a mass grave,” and another, “Australia, we are with you,” per The Guardian. One surfer put their demands as simply, “We Demand Safe, Clean and Accessible Beaches.”
On Sunday evening, the local surfing community hosted a “paddle out” vigil in San Miguel in honor of the late surfers.