The American surfers and Australian brothers who were found dead on a surfing vacation in Mexico were likely killed when they refused to hand over their car to a trio of carjackers, according to a report.
The bodies of Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, and brothers Callum, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, were discovered alongside their burnt white pick-up truck nearly a week after they vanished from the Baja California providence.
Authorities theorized that the idyllic trip turned tragic when the local bandits approached the men while they were at their beach camp at a popular surf spot known as La Bocana.
“When they tried to get the vehicle, the victims opposed the robbery, the robbers were armed with a firearm and apparently shot the victims,” Baja California’s chief prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez told Australia’s 7News.
Disturbingly, the killers didn’t even take the car they likely murdered the trio for — instead opting to set it on fire at the camp.
Police have not confirmed how the men died, but noted that shell casings were found at the campsite.
Three male bodies were found at the bottom of a well at a nearby ranch and the recovery took several hours for firefighters to execute.
Mexican officials have not officially confirmed that three of the bodies are Georgia resident Rhoad and the Robinson brothers, but said there was a “high degree of probability” they were executed.
Multiple sources confirmed their identities to Reuters this week, however.
The fourth body was identified as the property owner who was reported missing two weeks ago, officials said.
Police later arrested Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, alias El Kekas, his partner Ari Gisel García Cota, and Jesus’ brother Cristian Alejandro Garcia in connection to the men’s disappearance, but haven’t been charged with murder.
All had methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics on them at the time of their arrest, while Ari Gisel Garcia Cota, 23, was carrying one of the surfer’s phones when she was arrested, according to local reports.
The Robinsons and Rhoad were last seen April 27 enjoying the tropical climate of the coast, but they weren’t formally reported missing for several days when they failed to appear to an Airbnb they had rented further south.
In the hours before they vanished, Callum shared a series of social media posts of what looked like an exhilarating vacation along the Pacific Coast.
The men were seen donning wetsuits, drinking beers and enjoying local food at Rosarito Beach, where they were surfing and camping before moving another 50 miles south to the port city of Ensenada.
One snapshot shows the white pick-up truck that sources believe is the same one found burned at the abandoned camp.
Stevenson University in Baltimore issued a statement mourning the death of Callum Robinson, who graduated in 2015 and was a star lacrosse player at the school and then played for the Premier Lacrosse League.
Baja California is one of Mexico’s most violent states, although tourist areas like Ensenada are considered safer.
