Guilt-ridden friend of Callum and Jake Robinson reveals twist of fate that ... trends now
A close friend of one of the two Australian brothers allegedly killed by thieves during a surf trip in Mexico has revealed how he almost joined their doomed holiday.
Randy Dible, a photographer from San Diego, is now overcome with guilt after he recommended his neighbour Callum Robinson, 33, stay on a remote stretch of coastline renowned for its surf breaks in Baja, Mexico.
Mr Dible drew his neighbour a rough sketch of how he could access a remote beach as well as a campsite where shell casings and blood would later be found.
Mr Robinson, a professional lacrosse player, invited Mr Dible to join his younger brother Jake, 30, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, on the trip.
However, the photographer got a job and was forced to cancel.
'I told him about this place because I'd been travelling down there all over that country for 30 years so I know it like the back of my hand and I knew just where to go,' Mr Dible told The Australian.
'And he was murdered in that exact spot.'
Randy Dible, a photographer from San Diego, feels guilty for recommending Callum stay on a remote stretch of coastline renowned for its surf breaks in Baja, Mexico
Jake Robinson (left) is pictured with his brother Callum (right) and their parents - who have flown from Perth to Mexico to see if they can identify their sons' bodies
Australian brothers Jake, 30, (right) and Callum Robinson, 33, (center left; pictured with their parents) were last seen with their American friend on April 27
The three men had been about an hour-and-a-half south of the US-Mexico border when they disappeared just a few days into the trip.
The brothers' mother issued a desperate plea on social media after the group failed to turn up at an Airbnb they had booked in Rosarito.
Mexican authorities found shell casings and blood at a campsite where the three men were last seen with investigations leading them to a well about 2km away.
Three bodies, as well as a fourth body believed to be a local rancher, were discovered in the well located on a cliff by the ocean on Saturday.
It took rescuers up to 20 hours to pull the bodies out of the well with authorities yet to officially confirm the identification of the remains.
Family members of the victims are travelling to Mexico to see if the bodies can be identified by sight, before other tests are conducted.
Physical characteristics, including hair and clothes, means there is a 'high likelihood' the bodies are those of the three surfers, authorities said.
It comes as Attorney-General María Andrade Ramírez said the murder investigation would probe whether the men were killed in an attempted robbery.
