Heartbreaking final voicemail surfer Callum Robinson left for girlfriend before brothers killed in Mexico
The girlfriend of an Australian surfer allegedly murdered alongside his brother in Mexico has revealed his heartbreaking final voicemail to her.
The girlfriend of an Australian surfer allegedly murdered alongside his brother in Mexico has revealed his heartbreaking final voicemail to her.
Perth brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, were killed in a bungled robbery while they were camping at San Miguel beach in the Mexican state of Baja California late last month.
The trio vanished on April 27, and their bodies were found in a well on a cliff nearby a week later after a desperate search was launched when loved ones hadn’t heard from them.
Each had a gunshot to the head.
Mexican police allege they were killed by locals attempting to steal the tyres from their pick-up truck. Three people have been arrested -- Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, Ari Gisel García Cota and Cristian Alejandro García -- who were all allegedly found in possession of drugs.
Perth doctor Jake Robinson had flown to the US two weeks earlier to visit his brother Callum, who was living in San Diego, California with his girlfriend Emily Horwath to follow his dream of becoming a professional lacrosse player.
On Tuesday, Ms Horwath shared a voicemail from Callum on Instagram with the caption, “Will be playing this on repeat.”
In the message, Callum says, “Happy Tuesday, good morning! It’s 11.11 and I’m just thinking about you. Just wanted to drop you a quick message and say, hello baby, hope you’re having a phenomenal start to your day. I’m sensing a big grin on your face for some reason today. I hope you’re full of positivity and smiles. Cheers baby, miss you.”
In an earlier post Ms Horwath said her heart was “shattered into a million pieces”. “I don’t have the words right now,” Ms Horwath wrote, alongside a broken heart emoji and a photo of her and Callum looking happy while celebrating at a wedding.
“You are one of one,” she wrote in another post. I will love you forever.”
“I’d give anything for one more koala hug,” Ms Horwath wrote in a post accompanying a picture of Callum with his arms wrapped around her.
“Praying God has wrapped you in His arms. I miss you.”
It came as the Callum and Jake’s parents, Martin and Debra Robinson, broke their silence after travelling to the US, sharing their heartbreak over their sons’ deaths.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Callum and Jake have been murdered,” Ms Robinson said.
“Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us.
“We also mourn the loss of Carter Road, a close friend.
“They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together.
“Now it’s time to bring them home to family and friends -- and the ocean waves in Australia. Please live bigger, shine brighter and love harder in their memory.”
She said thanked those who had offered their condolences and said they had been “overwhelmed with the outpouring of emotions and support”.
“We have always been very proud of their academic and sporting achievements and admired their life choices,” she said.
She spoke of Callum’s “larger-than-life character” and his sporting achievement, playing professional lacrosse in America.
She described Jake as a “happy, gentle and compassionate soul” who was pursuing a career in medicine.
“Jake’s passion was surfing and it was no coincidence that many of his hospitals that he worked in were close to a surfing beaches,” she said.
Their comments come after the pair visited the morgue in Ensenada, Mexico, to identify their sons’ bodies on Sunday (local time).
The surfing group were reported missing after they failed to show up at the Airbnb they had booked in Rosarito.
Their bodies were found 15 metres down a hidden well on Saturday, in a desolate section of Santo Tomas, near their last known campsite.
“The state prosecutor’s office confirms that the bodies found in the well in the area known as La Bocana, south of Ensenada, correspond to Jake and Callum (Robinson), of Australian origin, as well as the American (Jack) Carter,” officials said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.
“The confirmation comes once the victims’ relatives were able to identify them, without the need for genetic tests to be performed.”
On Monday, Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez, the Attorney-General of the State of Baja California, said it was believed the men were shot in the head while resisting a robbery.
She also said she couldn’t rule out the possibility the Robinsons were victims of a notorious drug gang.
There are also questions swirling over a fourth body found down the well and that person’s connection to the incident.
“They approached, with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tyres and other parts to put them on the older-model pick-up they were driving,” Ms Andrade Ramirez said.
“When they [the victims] came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.
“And these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first they killed the one who was putting up resistance against the vehicle theft, and then others came along and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been attacked, and they killed them too.”
A GoFundMe to support the Robinsons in the wake of the tragedy has raised nearly $US284,000 ($430,000).
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