Three men are missing in Baja California. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson vanished while surfing and camping with an American named Jack Carter Rhoad. The surf traveling trio was last seen on April 28.
The trio were reportedly surfing near K38, but didn’t check into the rental accommodations as they were scheduled to do that evening. Another cause for concern is the fact that Callum is a Type 1 diabetic.
“We sincerely appreciate everyone’s concern and thoughts at this time,” wrote Debra Robinson, the mother of Callum and Jake. “We continue to have hope that our two beautiful boys are found. It is a deeply distressing time for us and we ask the media to respect our privacy at this time.”
According to local media reports, one of the missing men’s phones turned up near La Bocana. “A woman … about 25 years old … was detained in possession of it [in the upper part of Maneadero],” reporter Mario Muñoz told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She was reportedly found with drugs in her possession as well as the phone, and was handed over to the state attorney general’s office.
The ABC reported that social media updates from the men, which had been relatively frequent, halted when they disappeared.
The men have been missing since April 28th. Photo: Robinson Family
“Callum lives over in America and Jake was visiting and [they] sort of posted fairly regularly about their trip up until the weekend,” a friend of the Robinsons told ABC Radio Perth. “They haven’t actually checked into where they were meant to be on Saturday, and no one’s been able to get in contact with them since. We believe Callum was due back at work last week and hasn’t shown up … so obviously friends and family are quite concerned. I think everyone’s just sort of hoping that we can spread the word for anyone that has any contacts in America or around that area that might be able to put the word out.”
Although surf tourism in Mexico is a fairly big business and many surfers explore the area every year safely, it’s a worrying situation. In 2015, two Australian surfers were murdered in Sinaloa, which is about 1,000 miles south of Rosarito.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping in the search, but due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, it wasn’t able to give any insights.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” its statement said.
This is an ongoing story. We’ll have updates as they occur.
Update: Three people have been arrested in connection with the case after the missing truck was discovered.
