3 bodies found in search for US and Australian surfers missing in Mexico
Three bodies have been discovered in a Mexican tourist area where an American and two Australians are missing. CREDIT: Reuters
The case of three surfers killed in Mexico "is eerily similar" to the murders of a San Diego couple in the same Mexican state four years ago, a private investigator said.
Jay Armes III, who specializes in kidnappings in Mexico and works cases all over the world, immediately remembered Ian Hirschsohn and Kathy Harvey, a couple in their 70s who were slain in their longtime vacation home in El Socorrito, a tiny beach town in Baja California.
Their bodies were dumped down a well, just like Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, and American Jack Carter Rhoad, who were killed near Ensenada in Baja California during a carjacking over the weekend.
"The story is they (the suspects) wanted the tires, not even the truck," Armes said. "They burned the truck. That's how little regard for life there is in these remote areas of Mexico. Anyone can be killed for anything."
Jack Carter Rhoad, who was killed in a Mexican carjacking, was engaged to be wed to Natalie Weirtz this summer. (GoFundMe)
The San Diego couple were killed during a home invasion by a man who stole their bedding, according to a 2021 statement by Baja California Attorney General’s Office, which said they believed the burglar thought the home was empty.
He was likely startled when he encountered Hirschsohn and Harvey before fatally stabbing them both and dumping their bodies, the Mexican prosecutor's office said at the time.
They were ultimately found in a well "in the middle of nowhere," Hirschsohn’s daughter, Ava Setzer, told The San Diego Union Tribune in a January 2021 story.
That case, Armes believes, was on the minds of Mexican authorities, as their search for the missing surfers included area wells along the country's northwest coast.
Australian brothers Callum Robinson, left, and Jake Robinson. (Reuters)
All three victims were found in a 50-foot well with gunshots to their heads, according to Mexican authorities.
A fourth, unrelated victim – a woman whose name wasn't released – was found with the U.S. and Australian victims. Prosecutors haven't ruled out that the same suspects killed her.
"I'm not taking away anything from good police work, but I think the idea to look in the well came from that case," Armes told Fox News Digital. "At least they used their heads and made the effort to look. The extra body that was found was likely another one of their victims."
FOURTH BODY FOUND IN SEARCH FOR US AND AUSTRALIAN SURFERS WHO MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED IN MEXICO
Rhoad was slain just three months before he was going to tie the knot with his sweetheart, Natalie Weirtz, in August. Their wedding information was on Zola, which has since been taken down.
"In the wake of the heartbreaking loss of Carter Rhoad, Callum Robinson and Jake Robinson, our hearts ache with grief for their families, friends and community," Rhoad's and Weirtz's "close friend," Aubrey Byers, wrote in a GoFundMe post.
"Their presence brought immeasurable joy, love, and kindness to those around them, leaving a mark on our lives."
A truck being used by the trio was found burned. (PR Image via Reuters Connect)
Armes said there are so many beautiful tourist attractions in Mexico, but many destinations are either brutally violent cartel battlegrounds, or remote areas where people "just vanish."
"And most are never found," Armes said.
The surfers went missing last weekend and were found within days, a turnaround that's almost unheard of in Mexico, according to Armes.
Three suspects were identified, and two are being held on drug charges after law enforcement allegedly found them in possession of meth.
WATCH: INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF SURFER'S FRIENDS
How quickly the dead surfers' bodies were found sparked protests from locals and loved ones of the tens of thousands who are still missing.
The Mexican government reported in March there were about 100,000 people missing, according to a report by The New York Times, but the United Nations believes that's well under the real total.
AMERICAN KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO, LEFT TO DIE IN JUNGLE WITH EYES, WRISTS TAPED
"It is very difficult, except for high-profile cases like the one that just happened, for the authorities to immediately trigger the search," Adriana Jaén told The Times.
Jaén, a Mexico-based sociologist who helps families missing loved ones, said cases like the missing surfers are essentially salt in the wounds.
"The message those of us who work on these issues get is that there are lives that matter, and there are others that don't," she said.
Locals march to protest the disappearance of foreign surfers in Ensenada, Mexico, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Karen Castaneda)
Two male suspects were allegedly caught with methamphetamines, according to Mexican authorities, and are being held pending that case. A woman, one of the suspect's girlfriends, is also a person of interest.
She allegedly sold out her boyfriend, Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, in court on Wednesday, according to a report by the BBC.
She said Garcia Cota allegedly showed up at her house on April 28 and told her that he killed "three gringos," a slang term that describes English-speaking foreigners.
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Fox News' Stepheny Price and Bradford Betz, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
