The Australian brothers had attended the Coachella music festival before travelling from the US border city of San Diego into Mexico’s north-west peninsula.
Callum had moved to the United States to pursue lacrosse at college, later playing the sport professionally. Jake was visiting his brother before taking up a new job at a hospital in Geelong, Victoria.
“Callum and Jake are beautiful human beings,” parents Martin and Debra said in a statement released before the bodies were discovered. “We love them so much and this breaks our heart.”
They described Callum, nicknamed “Big Koala”, as their “big soft friendly giant” and Jake as “a gentle soul”.
The parents said on Friday they were travelling to Mexico to be as close as possible to where their sons were last seen.
Callum Robinson’s last Instagram post contained pictures from the “Mexico ’24” trip, placing the trio at coastal Rosarito and Ensenada, north of the search area.
State prosecutor Socorro Ibarra said tents were found in the area where the missing men were last seen, adding that they were formally reported missing days after they had vanished.
Three people are being investigated in relation to the case – two men and a 23-year-old woman, who was allegedly found carrying drugs and a mobile phone.
According to an internal briefing seen by this masthead, police on Wednesday spotted the woman carrying a black cloth bag while walking in the town of Maneadero, about eight kilometres south of the city of Ensenada, where the brothers had stayed.
Inside the 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.
Investigators have also discovered a white ute, matching the description of a vehicle the three men had used to travel around Baja California, burnt-out on a farm in the area where the bodies were found.
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The Baja California Attorney General’s Office said it was “in constant communication with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Consulate and the Australian Consulate” and still collecting evidence from the cliff site.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was in regular contact with the Robinson family.
“The Australian embassy in Mexico City is working closely with the Australian Federal Police and local authorities regarding the two Australians reported missing in Mexico,” the spokesperson 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: Patrulla646, Callum Robinson’s Instagram
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
-with Reuters, Associated Press.
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