A close friend of one of two Australian brothers allegedly murdered by robbers during a surfing trip in Mexico has revealed how he almost joined their doomed holiday.
Randy Dible, a San Diego photographer, is now overcome with guilt after recommending his neighbor Callum Robinson, 33, stay on a remote stretch of coast famous for its surfing waves in Baja, Mexico.
Dible drew his neighbor a sketch of how he could access a remote beach, as well as a campsite where bullet casings and blood would later be found.
Robinson, a professional lacrosse player, invited Dible to accompany his younger brother Jake, 30, and his American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, on the trip.
However, the photographer got work and was forced to cancel.
“I told him about this place because I had been traveling all over that country for 30 years, so I know it like the back of my hand and I knew exactly where to go,” Dible said. The Australian.
“And he was murdered in that exact spot.”
Randy Dible, a photographer from San Diego, feels guilty for recommending Callum stay on a remote stretch of coast famous for its surfing waves in Baja, Mexico.
Jake Robinson (left) is pictured with his brother Callum (right) and their parents, who flew from Perth to Mexico to see if they can identify their children’s bodies.
Australian brothers Jake, 30 (right) and Callum Robinson, 33 (centre left; pictured with their parents) were last seen with their American friend on April 27.
The three men were approximately an hour and a half south of the U.S.-Mexico border when they disappeared just a few days into the trip.
The brothers’ mother issued a desperate plea on social media after the group failed to show up at an Airbnb they had booked in Rosarito.
Mexican authorities found bullet casings and blood at a camp where the three men were last seen and investigations led them to a well about 2 kilometers away.
Three bodies, as well as a fourth body believed to be that of a local rancher, were discovered Saturday in the well located on an oceanside cliff.
It took rescuers up to 20 hours to remove the bodies from the well and authorities have not yet officially confirmed the identification of the remains.
Relatives of the victims travel to Mexico to see if the bodies can be visually identified, before conducting other tests.
Physical characteristics, including hair and clothing, mean there is a “high probability” the bodies are those of the three surfers, authorities said.
It comes as Attorney General María Andrade Ramírez said the murder investigation would look into whether the men were killed in an attempted robbery.
The brothers Jesús Gerardo García Cota and Cristian Alejandro García were two of the three arrested. It is unclear which brother is which in their mugshots.
Ari Gisel García Cota, 23, is one of the three suspects arrested. He would be the partner of Jesús Gerardo García Cota, who was also arrested
Police believe the trio’s vehicle was later found burned in the Santo Tomas area (pictured)
He said the thieves were likely interested in the men’s truck, a white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck, and more specifically the tires.
“The probability that it is them is very high,” said Andrade Ramírez.
‘When they tried to seize the vehicle, the victims resisted the robbery, the thieves were armed with a firearm and apparently shot at the victims.’
Three Mexicans, Jesús Gerardo García Cota, alias El Kekas, his girlfriend, Ari Gisel García Cota, and his brother, Christian Alejandro García, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with forced kidnapping.
Mrs. García Cota, 23, reportedly had one of the missing persons’ mobile phones.
It is understood police were able to make the arrests after one of the brothers’ mobile phones switched back on and a local mobile tower was pinged.
The three suspects were found in possession of a variety of methamphetamines and other illegal drugs, according to local media outlets Zeta and Talk Baja.
Baja California, where the men shared their vacation photos, is known as one of the most violent and cartel-controlled states in Mexico.
The disappearance of the men has not been related to organized crime, but investigators are not ruling anything out.
The Robinson brothers attended Coachella before heading to Mexico to surf. Callum was living in America, where he was a lacrosse player known as “the Big Koala”, and Jake, who worked in regional hospitals across Australia, had flown in two weeks ago to visit him.
Prosecutors have released grisly details of the murders but have yet to officially confirm the identification of the bodies, including that of 30-year-old American Jack Carter Rhoad (pictured).
Callum documented the trip on Instagram before going silent a week ago.
In social media posts shared by Callum just before he went missing, the trio were seen relaxing on Rosarito Beach, where they were said to be surfing and camping while touring the west coast of Mexico.
They were reportedly planning to move to Ensenada, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the coast, but concerns were raised when they were unable to check into an Airbnb on Sunday.
The last image posted to Callum’s Instagram showed the group had arrived at San Miguel beach in Ensenada before disappearing without a trace.
A chilling image showed his white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck on a Rosarito beach, which police believe was the same vehicle he later discovered burned.
‘…and it begins,’ Callum had captioned an image of the truck on the beach, along with a Mexican flag emoji, at the beginning of the trio’s doomed trip.
The Robinson brothers had attended Coachella before going to Mexico to surf.
Callum was based in the United States, where he was an accomplished lacrosse player known as “the Big Koala”, and his brother Jake, who worked in regional hospitals across Australia, had flown to San Diego two weeks ago to visit him.
Rhoad worked in technology services in San Diego.