Three people have been questioned in Mexico in connection to the disappearance of two Perth brothers who went missing during a surfing trip in Mexico along with an American man who was travelling with them.
Authorities said they had found an abandoned camping site that may have been used by the travellers, as well as a mobile phone and a vehicle.
A search continues for siblings Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, along with their American companion. who are believed to have gone missing on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
The brothers were reportedly travelling with 30-year-old US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad.
A missing persons poster being circulated by the brothers’ friends and family said the trio were last seen on Sunday near the K-38 surf spot – so-named because the collection of breaks sits at the 38km mark of the Baja Highway south of Rosarito.
“They did not check into the airbnb near K38 and Callum did not return to work in San Diego as scheduled,” the poster said.
“They were driving a white Chevrolet Colorado utility with Californian number plates … around Ensenada region.
“Callum is a type 1 diabetic and the family have not been able to make contact since Saturday. This is out of character behaviour, please help.”
Jorge Argoud, operational deputy director of security in Ensenada, told Reuters: “Since the disappearance was reported, the operation has been ongoing, and so far, a cell phone apparently belonging to one of the missing persons and a vehicle have been recovered.”
Local media reports – as yet unconfirmed – said a burnt-out ute matching the description of the one the group was driving had been found on a ranch in nearby Santo Tomás.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) officials had been in contact with the family after 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.”
Mexican police said they had questioned a woman and two men in relation to the disappearance. The woman was found with a mobile phone that contained a photo that looked like one of the missing brothers.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, Baja California’s chief prosecutor, told reporters that abandoned tents had been found, along with evidence that linked the three people to the missing men, but would not elaborate on whether they were suspects or witnesses in the case.
“A working team is at the site where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence was found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation,” Andrade Ramírez said. “There is a lot of important information that we can’t make public.”
“We do not know what condition they are in,” she added. “All lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them.”
She said the time that had elapsed since they went missing might make it more difficult to find the missing men.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the last few days that they were reported missing. So, that meant that important hours or time was lost.”
The pair’s mother, Debra Robinson, appealed for help to find her sons on Mexican social media, saying she had not heard from them since Saturday and “this is a very dire situation”.
She also shared an image of a Chevrolet ute the brothers had been travelling in, and mentioned in a comment that the family hoped to travel to Mexico as soon as possible.
Dfat confirmed it was helping the family.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” a spokesperson said.
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, said the disappearance of the brothers was distressing.
“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.
“I share the concerns of all Western Australians in terms of their welfare.”
In 2015, WA surfers Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas were murdered in western Sinaloa state in Mexico’s north-west, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits, who shot them and burned their van and bodies.
