Three arrested, burnt-out ute found as Mexican police search for Australian brothers

Authorities have found a car believed to belong to one of the Perth brothers missing in Mexico, burnt out on a property near where they had last camped.

Callum and Jake Robinson were travelling with US national Carter Rhoad when the trio failed to make it to pre-arranged accommodation.

A white ute matching the description of a vehicle the three men had used to travel around north-west Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula was found burnt-out on a farm in the Santo Tomas area.

A woman and two men, all Mexican, have been arrested in relation to the disappearance of the three men. Authorities said the detained woman, 23, had been found with drugs and a mobile phone.

According to an internal briefing seen by this masthead, police on Wednesday spotted the woman with a black cloth bag walking down the street in the town of Maneadero, about eight kilometres south of Ensenada city on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

As officers approached the 23-year-old, she allegedly threw the bag to the ground and tried to run. She was arrested by police a few metres down the road.

Inside the black cloth bag, police allegedly found a transparent plastic bag filled with a substance believed to be crystal meth, and a grey iPhone with a picture of a man matching the description of one of the missing men.

Mexican authorities said social media posts about the trio’s disappearance had sparked the police investigation. An official missing persons report was not made until 48 hours after the men were last seen.

“Very important time was lost,” Baja California Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez told reporters on Thursday (Mexico time).

Ramirez, flanked at a press conference by officers from the State Bureau of Investigations wearing camouflage tactical gear and carrying rifles, said three tents belonging to the trio had been found south of Ensenada.

Mexican authorities held a press conference after three people were arrested over the disappearance of Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson.Credit: la Fiscalia del Estado

Images of the farm where the ute was found show the charred remains of the vehicle on rocky terrain surrounded by thick bushland. A mountain range can be seen in the distance. The area was cordoned off.

Photos of the men posted on social media before their disappearance show them drinking beer on the rooftop of a building in Ensenada, bathing in a hot tub, sampling the local cuisine and getting ready for a surf.

The three missing tourists have not made contact with family and friends for several days.

Parents Martin and Debra Robinson said in a statement they planned to travel to the area where the trio were last seen.

They said their son Callum was “living his dream” in the US, and was known as the “Big Koala”. Jake made the “trip of a lifetime” to visit his brother, and they were travelling to Mexico to surf.

“Our only comfort right now is that they were together doing something they passionately love,” the Robinson’s said.

From left: A burnt-out ute found in the search for missing Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson in Mexico and a picture of the ute they were travelling in that Callum posted on Instagram.Credit:

American friend Sam Furnish told this masthead that everyone who knew Callum loved him. Furnish said the pair had become friends while Callum played lacrosse at Stevenson University in the city of Baltimore.

“He has the best heart of anyone I know,” Furnish said. “He makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the room regardless of who you are.”

A keen traveller, Jake Robinson has surfed some of the world’s top surfing destinations, including in Australia, Bali, Indonesia and Mexico.

Brothers Callum and Jake Robinson are missing in Mexico.

Baja California has one of Mexico’s highest rates of violent crime, as warring cartels fight for control of the lucrative drug trade. Local police have not linked the men’s disappearance to organised crime.

Mexican authorities have been in contact with law enforcement agencies in the US and Australia.

Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda said local authorities would not rest until they found the trio.

Callum Robinson representing Australia in lacrosse.Credit: Instagram

“We will take the necessary measures to solve this case. We won’t allow Baja California’s peace to be disturbed, or the tranquillity of those visiting us to be altered,” she said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials had been in contact with the Robinson family following the disappearance.

“This is a really concerning situation,” Albanese told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday. “Our embassy in Mexico is working with local authorities as well to try to ascertain what has happened here.

“We certainly hope that these brothers are found safely, but there is real concern about the fact that they’ve gone missing. Their mother is obviously very distressed about this and we just hope for a positive outcome.”

Ensenada Mayor Carlos Ibarra Aguiar said special operations and tourism police were in charge of the search and rescue.

“They have carried out vigilance activities in several areas including the area of Santo Tomas, the village of La Bocana, and the area of Maneadero,” he said on Thursday (Mexico time).

The brothers’ mother, Debra Robinson, had appealed for help on Mexican social media to find her sons, saying she had not heard from them since Saturday.

“They are travelling with another friend, an American citizen,” she wrote. “They were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend, but they did not show up.”

Debra said Callum was a type 1 diabetic and she had concerns for his health. “Please contact me if you have seen them or know their whereabouts,” she said.

The family of Jake and Callum Robinson has appealed for help to find the brothers.

West Australian Premier Roger Cook said it was very worrying for the family. “When we do send out young men and women overseas to enjoy that adventure holiday, they invite an element of risk and this is really quite distressing,” he told reporters on Thursday (Perth time).

“I share the concerns of all Western Australians in terms of their welfare.”

In March, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there had been 167 homicides in Baja California during January. Homicides in Baja California occur at a rate of 340 for every 100,000 people – the second highest in Mexico.

In 2015, WA surfers Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas were murdered in Mexico’s volatile Sinaloa region.

With AAP

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