Relatives on Sunday identified the bodies of two Australians and an American shot dead in a suspected robbery in Mexico, authorities said, marking a tragic end to the search for the missing surfers.
The corpses were found with bullet wounds to their heads, according to officials in crime-hit Baja California state, suggesting an execution-style triple homicide.
The news confirmed the worst fears of the families and friends of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, who were on a surf trip to Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The trio were believed to have been murdered during an attempt to steal their pick-up truck, state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade said at a press conference.
The vehicle — which had been burned — was found nearby.
The state prosecutor’s office later confirmed that the bodies had been formally identified as those of the missing surfers.
“The victims’ relatives were able to identify them without the need for genetic tests,” a statement said.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the news as “horrendous” and said the “whole country’s heart goes out to all of their loved ones.
“It has been an absolutely horrendous, absolutely horrific ordeal and our thoughts are with all of them,” he said.
Mexico’s foreign minister Alicia Barcena expressed her condolences in a statement, saying that her office “maintained a constant and direct dialogue with the Australian Ambassador to Mexico, Rachel Elizabeth Moseley, and her team, to support the efforts of the diplomatic mission.”
Three suspects, two men and one woman, have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the case, according to Mexican prosecutors.
One of those arrested has a history of violence, drug dealing and robbery, officials said.
Investigators said earlier that the bodies were recovered from a cliff-top shaft in an “advanced state of decomposition.”
Another corpse found at the site had been there longer and was unconnected to the others, officials said.
AFP journalists saw authorities use a pulley system to extract the mud-covered bodies from the shaft on Friday near the town of Santo Thomas, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) southeast of Ensenada.
