Parents of surfers murdered in Mexico release message in memory of their children

2024-05-08 00:48:01

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The parents of the two Australian surfers murdered in northwest Mexico released a message Tuesday to pay tribute to their children and the American friend who lost his life with them, a crime that exposed a new episode of violence once morest foreign tourists in Mexico.

“We are heartbroken, the world has become a dark place for us,” said mother Debra Robinson, in a video recorded on a beach in San Diego, California. “They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together.”

His sons, Callum and Jake Robinson, and American Jack Carter Rhoad went to Punta San José, regarding 80 kilometers south of Ensenada, in the Mexican state of Baja California. According to Mexican authorities, they were attacked there on April 28 or 29, allegedly by criminals who wanted to steal their vehicle and ended up murdered.

The bodies had been shot in the head and had been thrown into a well.

Prosecutors in Mexico have identified three people allegedly linked to the homicide. Two of them were caught with methamphetamines and face drug possession charges. One is a woman who had the cell phone of one of the victims when she was arrested.

The third arrested is a man who, before the bodies were found, was accused of a crime equivalent to kidnapping. It is unknown if he might face more charges.

The prosecutor of the state of Baja California, María Elena Andrade Ramírez, indicated that the latter, only identified as Jesús Gerardo alias “el Kekas”, had a criminal record that included drug trafficking, vehicle theft and domestic violence. She added that they do not rule out that other people are involved.

The mother of the two Australian victims spoke, along with her husband, regarding the tastes of her children. She told how Callum “considered America her second home” and was a youth sports coach. She also remembered the tricks of Jake, a doctor by profession, to always work in hospitals next to beaches where he might surf. The waves were their passion.

Almost unable to contain her tears, she launched a petition that summarized her children’s philosophy of life: “Live longer, shine brighter and love more in their memory.”

The woman thanked the Australian authorities and those who have given them support in the United States. There was no message for the Mexican women, although they were the ones who located the bodies days following the attack in a campsite next to the beach.

Investigators were surprised when, beneath the bodies of the three foreigners, a fourth body was found that had been there for much longer, suggesting that the gang had been operating in the area for some time without anyone stopping them.

In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, died in the western state of Sinaloa, across the Gulf of California on the country’s northwestern mainland. Authorities said they had been victims of highway robbers. Three suspects were arrested in that case.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that he had requested to speak with Robinson and her husband. “It is a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to them,” she told reporters in the city of Rockhampton, in the state of Queensland.

Meanwhile, the parents only hope to be able to get the bodies of the young people back with theirs. “Now is the time to take them home to their families and friends,” she said. “The ocean awaits in Australia.”

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