Bodies found in search of Australian brothers in Mexico

Three bodies have reportedly been found in an area of ​​northern Mexico where two Australian brothers and a friend are missing.

Reuters cited two sources with knowledge of the investigation as saying that Mexican authorities had found three bodies on the Baja California Peninsula.

Perth brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, were traveling through the region on a surfing holiday when they failed to check into pre-arranged accommodation near the town of Ensenada.

Their mother, Debra Robinson, asked for help finding her two children and an American friend they were traveling with, saying she had not heard from them since Saturday.

“Callum is a type one diabetic so there is also a medical concern,” he wrote on Mexican social media.

Baja California state Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez said police had questioned three people in connection with their disappearance, but the chances of finding the men had diminished as a result of delays in the investigation.

“Unfortunately, only in the last few days was a report filed about his disappearance, so very important hours were lost there,” he said Friday at a news conference in Mexico.

Investigators found a burned white pickup truck and abandoned tents believed to belong to the missing men.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials have been providing support to the family.

The department has urged people to use a high degree of caution when traveling to Baja California “due to the threat of violent crime.”

Drug cartels are known to operate in the region and the state’s chief prosecutor said “all lines of investigation” remained open.

In 2015, Western Australian surfers Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas were murdered, believed to have been shot dead by gang members in the neighboring Sinaloa region, before their van and their bodies were burned.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as foreign opposition spokesman Simon Birmingham and WA Premier Roger Cook, expressed concern for the safety of the surfers and their wishes for their safe return.