Callum and Jake Robinson, Jack Rhoad: Three surfers killed in Mexico remembered

Callum (left) and Jake Robinson

Two Australian brothers were on the "trip of a lifetime" with an American friend when they were murdered in a suspected carjacking in Mexico.

The brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson, were near the town of Ensenada when they disappeared on 27 April.

The third victim has been identified as Jack Carter Rhoad from San Diego, California. He was due to get married.

Their bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head and at the bottom of a deep well.

A fourth set of human remains discovered in the well were believed to be unrelated to the incident in the northern Mexican state of Baja California, a popular tourist destination that is also plagued by cartel violence.

• Surfers killed in likely carjacking, says Mexico

Relatives of the three men identified their bodies on Sunday after travelling to Mexico.

On X, formerly Twitter, Australian ambassador to Mexico Rachel Moseley said Australian diplomats and federal police were "giving all possible support" to the Robinson family.

A GoFundMe page set up by a US-based friend of the family estimated the total cost of repatriating their remains - along with flights, funeral costs and attorneys - was expected to top $130,000 (£103,000). So far, nearly $300,000 has been raised in both the US and Australia.

Three people have been detained in connection with their deaths. Mexican authorities believe they attacked the victims after they resisted the theft of their pickup truck.

Here's what we know about the victims.

Callum Robinson had played on Australia's national lacrosse team

Callum Robinson, 33

The eldest of the victims, Callum Robinson was a member of Australia's national lacrosse team and a resident of San Diego, just across the US-Mexico border from Baja California.

He graduated from Stevenson University in Maryland in 2015.

Callum was also diabetic, noted his mother, Debra Robinson, while appealing on Facebook for help to find her missing sons.

His girlfriend, Emily Horwath, posted several images of the couple on Instagram after his death was announced.

"My heart is shattered into a million pieces," she wrote. "I don't have the words right now."

In a statement posted online, Stevenson University athletics director Brett Adams wrote that Callum was "a stellar student, a stellar athlete and an even better friend".

"We are all so thankful that he was a part of our lives," his former coach, Paul Cantabene, said in the statement. "He lived an extraordinary life, but what is most impressive about Callum is what a loyal friend he was. Once you were his friend, you were friends for life."

A friend of Callum, Hayley Jacobs, told Australia's Nine News that he "lit up a room", adding that he eventually hoped to return to Australia.

"I asked him what his goals were in life and he just said that he wanted to go back to Australia and raise a family and grow," she added.

Ms Jacobs said she grew concerned after not hearing from Callum once his Mexico trip began. She saw him the day he left.

"I don't know what's going on but I think he's mad at me," she remembered thinking. "Like something doesn't seem right."

Jake Robinson was about to take a job at a hospital in Australia

Jake Robinson, 30

Callum's younger brother, Jake, left Australia about two weeks before the incident. He was an avid traveller who documented his trips - including a two-month visit to Indonesia last year - on Instagram.

Together, the pair attended the Coachella music festival in California before crossing the state's border into Mexico.

After the trip, Jake planned to take a position working at a hospital in Geelong, a port city in the state of Victoria, about 40 miles (65km) from Melbourne.

He had previously worked at various regional hospitals in Australia, according to reports.

A friend of Jake, Jenny Nguy, paid tribute to him on social media, saying she "can't stop thinking about you, your smile, your laugh, your kindness".

"I can't stop crying thinking about how your parents must be feeling," she wrote.

Callum Robinson posted this image of Jack Carter Rhoad just days before his death

Jack Carter Rhoad, 30

Mr Carter Rhoad, a friend of Callum, was a resident of San Diego and had been employed at a technology services company in the city since December 2019.

In 2012, he founded a clothes company, Loma Apparel.

Between 2014-15, he played professional football at Deportivo Mixto in Guatemala's top-tier national league.

He had previously volunteered on humanitarian trips to South Africa, Guatemala and Mexico.

Mr Rhoad had been due to marry his fiancee, Natalie Wiertz, in Columbus, Ohio, on 17 August. The pair had announced their engagement in July last year, with Ms Wiertz celebrating her hen do only last month.

On a GoFundMe page, a friend of the Rhoad family, Aubrey Byers, wrote that Mr Rhoad's relatives and Ms Wiertz were going through "an unimaginably difficult time".

"Their presence brought immeasurable joy, love, and kindness to those around them, leaving a mark on our lives," Mr Penland wrote of the three men.

So far, nearly $58,000 has been raised, some of which will go to "scholarships and donations he felt passionate about."