How Aussie brothers’ dream birthday trip to remote Mexican beach turned to horror – as pal reveals their final text message before they were found murdered and dumped down a well
EXCLUSIVE
An Australian athlete was on a Mexican surfing trip with his brother and another friend to celebrate his birthday when all three were shot dead and dumped in a well.
Callum Robinson, 32, and his younger brother Jake, 30, were on the road trip of a lifetime in Baja California with their American boyfriend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, when they disappeared on April 27.
An international search was launched after they failed to arrive at their Airbnb in Rosarito that evening, before police found their last campsite covered in blood.
On Saturday, their remains were found near the city of Ensenada – about 2 km away from their accommodation – at the bottom of a well. They each had one gunshot wound to the head.
Now it can be revealed that Callum did not live long enough to celebrate his 33rd birthday on May 1 – just four days before the alleged triple murder.
His sports manager, Gary Shipman, told Daily Mail Australia he texted Callum on Wednesday to wish him a happy birthday but never received a response.
Callum Robinson is pictured with his girlfriend Emily Horwath. He died on April 27
Sports manager Gary Shipman called Callum Robinson texted him on his birthday but he was dead
The bodies were found near the town of Ensenada in Baja California, on the west coast of Mexico
“It was a text message that he never got,” Mr Shipman said.
Mr Shipman said Callum planned to return to his home in San Diego and turned his attention to lacrosse, “the sport he loved” while working for the youth lacrosse organization PLL Play.
“He joked that he was ‘retired’ but there was nothing ‘retired’ about Callum – he was constantly improving and making himself and others around him better,” he said.
Mr Shipman said Callum was passionate about lacrosse and tried to spread it to as many children as possible.
‘The most remarkable thing about Callum was the fact that he so embraced the joy of life.
“Unlike many of us, he gave more than he received, but he never worried about it. His main focus in life was to work as hard as he could, for the joy of others and secondarily for himself.”
Mr Shipman also shrugged off comments from some people who attribute the tragic deaths to ‘God’s will’, saying: ‘God had nothing to do with this other than welcoming this larger-than-life man into the kingdom of God. heavens.’
Callum Robinson, 33, (left) and his brother Jake (right) were traveling in the Baja California region when they disappeared on April 27
Jack Carter Rhoad (pictured) was traveling with the brothers. All three were reportedly found with a single gunshot wound to the head
Debra and Martin Robinson are pictured paying a heartfelt tribute to their sons in San Diego on Tuesday
Three Mexican nationals – Jesus Gerardo Garcia Cota, his girlfriend Ari Gisel Garcia Cota and his brother Christian Alejandro Garcia – were arrested last Wednesday and charged with kidnapping.
Jake, who worked as a doctor in Perth, had flown to the US two weeks earlier to visit Callum, who lived in San Diego with his girlfriend Emily Horwath.
Their parents Martin and Debra Robinson broke down in tears as they spoke about their son’s death in San Diego on Tuesday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Callum and Jake have been murdered,” Mrs Robinson said.
“Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us.
“We also mourn the loss of Carter Rhoad, a dear friend.
‘They were young men who enjoyed their passion together: surfing.
‘Now it’s time to take them home to family and friends – and to the ocean waves in Australia. Please live bigger, shine brighter and love harder in their memories.”
She thanked those who offered their condolences, saying they were “overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotion and support.”
It took rescuers up to 20 hours to remove the men’s bodies from the pit (photo)
Police believe the trio’s vehicle was later found burned out in the Santo Tomás area (photo)
“We have always been very proud of their academic and sporting achievements and admired their life choices,” Ms Robinson said.
She spoke of Callum’s “larger-than-life character” and his sporting achievements, including playing professional lacrosse in America, and said Jake was a “happy, gentle and compassionate soul” with a career in medicine.
‘Jake’s passion was surfing and it was no coincidence that many of the hospitals where he worked were close to surfing beaches.’
On Sunday, they visited a mortuary in Ensenada to identify the bodies of their sons.
Baja California state prosecutors believe the alleged killers were driving by when they saw the foreigners’ pickup.
Chief prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez alleged that they had tried to steal the tires and other car parts.
She said the men would not have been shot because they were tourists, but because they resisted the theft.
The alleged killers tried to destroy the evidence, burned the tent and drove the white truck to Santo Tomás and set it on fire.
The bodies were dumped in a four-meter-deep pit about four miles away, on top of a fourth body that prosecutors say had been there much longer.
Rescue workers spent twenty hours removing the bodies from the well.