Bodies of missing surfers thought to have been found

MEXICO CITY — Three bodies recovered in an area of Mexico’s Baja California state are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.

While there has not yet been confirmation based on forensic examination, physical characteristics — including hair and clothing — means there is a high likelihood that the bodies are those of the three tourists, local TV network Milenio reported, quoting chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez.

“It is presumed that the bodies are the ones being investigated,” an employee of the state prosecutors’ office told The Associated Press.

The bodies were found in a well where investigators also found another body that authorities said would be investigated.

“A fourth body was located. It is not related to the three foreigners. The fourth body had been there for a long time,” the official said.

The site where the bodies were discovered, near the township of Santo Tomás, was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and truck were found along the coast on Thursday.

The men — identified by family members as brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad — went missing on April 27. They did not show up at their planned accommodations over the weekend.

The U.S. State Department said: “We are aware of those reports [of bodies] and are closely monitoring the situation. At this time we have no further comment.”

Baja California prosecutors had said Thursday that they were questioning three people in the case. On Friday, the office said the three had been arrested and charged with a crime equivalent to kidnapping. It was unclear if they might face more charges.

Andrade Ramírez, the chief state prosecutor, said evidence found along with the abandoned tents was linked to the three people being questioned about the missing foreigners.