US photographer Randy Dible’s guilt over death of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson

Randy Dible is struggling to come to terms with the death of his Australian friend Callum Robinson, after telling him about his favourite surf spot at a remote beach in Mexico and instructing him how to get there.

San Diego photographer Randy Dible, left, and Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson flank parents Martin and Debra.

Renowned San Diego photographer Randy Dible is struggling to come to terms with the murder of his friend and neighbour Callum Robinson. And he is overcome with guilt.

Three weeks ago, Dible told the 33-year-old Australian about his favourite surf spot in Baja, Mexico, a lonely but beautiful stretch of coast called La Bocana.

Robinson, who had moved to the US to play lacrosse, was immediately enthusiastic. His younger brother Jake was coming over from Perth and they were looking for good spots in Mexico to camp and surf.

Dible got out a paper napkin and drew a crude map for Robinson, showing him how to get to the remote beach at La Bocana, where he promised great fishing and great waves.

The veteran surf photographer told the young Australian about his experiences of camping there with his grandfather in the 1960s and more recently with his wife and kids. “I told him about this place because I’d been travelling down there all over that country for 30 years so I know it like the back of my hand and I knew just where to go,” Dible says.

“And he was murdered in that exact spot.”

A burnt out car at a ranch several kilometres from the search site.

Dible almost joined him on the trip. “Callum said ‘Hey, do you want to come with me?’ And I’m like ‘Yeah, that sounds fun, cool’. But then I got a job and had to ­cancel.”

The road trip to Baja is popular with Americans, especially those from San Diego. While drug cartels operate in the area, their violence is generally directed at each other and not at foreigners.

Dible says Robinson wasn’t worried. The two brothers loaded up their white Chevrolet Colorado pickup and set out with their American friend Jack Rhoad, with Callum recording the journey for his 16,000 followers on Instagram, under his motto: “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.”

The brothers pictured getting ready to surf.

On this trip, Callum and his travelling companions weren’t living on the edge; they were just having fun. Callum’s pictures show them in wetsuits getting ready to surf, relaxing in bars, eating at a street food stall and making friends with a stray dog at KM38, a famous cluster of surf breaks around Rosarito Beach.

The pictures stop on April 28, just a couple of days into the trip. The three men then didn’t show up at the Airbnb they’d booked in Rosarito.

Alarmed by a sudden loss of contact, the brothers’ mother, Debra Robinson, posted a plea on social media.

Then, on Saturday, the bodies of four people were found by Mexican authorities down a well on a cliff by the ocean, about 2km away from what is believed to be the men’s campsite at La Bocana.

The fourth body, which had been in the well much longer, is believed to be that of a missing local rancher.

Though the bodies have not been formally identified, state ­Attorney-General Maria Elena Andrade said they “met the characteristics to assume with a high degree of probability” they were the missing three.

AG Andrade told reporters on Sunday local time the trio’s relatives have arrived in Mexico to aid in the identification process

The victims “all have a hole in their head made by a firearm projectile,” Ms Andrade added.

The motive was believed to the attempted theft of their pick-up truck, she said. The vehicle – which had been burned – was found nearby.

Three Mexicans, Jesus Gerardo Garcia Cota, alias El Kekas, his girlfriend, Ari Gisel Garcia Cota, and his brother, Christian Alejandro Garcia, have since been charged with forced kidnapping.

Ari Gisel García Cota, 23, is one of three suspects arrested.

The woman was found in possession of one of the missing men’s mobile phones, allowing authorities to track her down.

All three are expected to be charged with murder in coming days.

Police believe the Robinson brothers and Rhoad were ambushed at the campsite and resisted when the suspects tried to rob them. Shell casings and blood were found at the scene.

A rescue worker descends into a waterhole where human remains were found near La Bocana Beach. Picture: AFP

The campsite was exactly where Randy Dible had directed Callum Robinson.

“It’s off the main highway, a 17km dirt road and it’s only one road in and just straight up valleys on both sides,” he says.

“But they found the bodies at the well near Punta San Jose, which is five miles (8km) away, so those guys went to an effort to dump the bodies, then take the truck back and burn it in another spot.”

Like all Robinson’s San Diego friends, Dible is waiting for answers about what happened, but he agrees with the police suspicions about what occurred.

“Callum was like 6 foot four (1.93m), solid-muscle lacrosse player – he was f..king gnarly.

“I shook his hand, he had a kung fu grip, almost broke my hand, so you know he’s not someone you want to f..k with.

Callum Robinson pictured two weeks ago with a photo by friend Randy Dible. Picture: Randy Dible

“And some Mexican guys tried to rob them and they’ve resisted, because I guarantee you, Callum wasn’t gonna take any shit.”

These days, the danger in Baja comes from common criminals needing to score to feed their addictions to meth and fentanyl, not from the cartels.

Dible admits it’s “getting nasty” but then says: “I’ve never felt unsafe down there.”

“This was a random thing,” he said. “Mexico is still safe for foreigners to go.”

Dible is asking Australians not to avoid the country.

“It’s going to hurt Mexico’s tourism real bad and they are already hurting real bad,” he said.

Some part of him wishes he’d gone on the trip with Callum – “Maybe I could have prevented whatever happened” – but most of all, he regrets telling his friend about La Bocana. “I wish I’d never met up with him that day,” he says.

“I feel really bad. I feel guilty. It’s just starting to hit home.”