Mexican cops find tents, question people in the case of 2 Australians, 1 American missing in Baja

News

Mexican cops find tents, question people in the case of 2 Australians, 1 American missing in Baja

2024-05-03 11:07 Last Updated At：11:10

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities said Thursday they have found tents and questioned three people in the case of two Australians and an American who went missing over the weekend in the Pacific coast state of Baja California.

María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the state’s chief prosecutor, would not say whether the three people questioned were considered possible suspects or witnesses in the case. She said only that some were tied directly to the case, and others indirectly.

But Andrade Ramírez said evidence found along with the abandoned tents was somehow linked to the three. The three foreigners were believed to have been surfing and camping along the Baja coast near the coastal city of Ensenada, but did not show up at their planned accommodations over the weekend.

“A working team (of investigators) 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. While drug cartels are active in the area, she said “all lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them.”

On Wednesday, the missing Australians' mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for helping in finding her sons, Jake and Callum. Robinson said her son had not been heard from since Saturday April 27. They had booked accommodations in the nearby city of Rosarito, Baja California.

Robinson said one of her sons, Callum, is diabetic. She also mentioned that the American who was with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City did not immediately confirm that. The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports a U.S. citizen missing in Baja, but gave no further details.

Andrade Ramírez said her office was in contact with Australian and U.S. officials. But she suggested that the time that had passed might make it harder to find them.

“Unfortunately, it wasn't until the last few days that they were reported missing. So, that meant that important hours or time was lost,” she said.

In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez— from the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.

What to know about the severe storms and flash flooding hitting parts of the US

2025-04-05 06:13 Last Updated At：06:21

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Parts of the South and Midwest, still reeling from violent storms, tornadoes and flooding that have killed at least eight people this week, faced an ongoing threat of catastrophic flooding Friday that forecasters said would stretch into the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms threatened a swath of the country with a population of 2.3 million people from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri.

In Kentucky, continued storms inundated roads and a mudslide blocked a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville. A 9-year-old boy was killed, swept away as he walked to a school bus stop.

The downtown area of Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee — was submerged.

The first wave of storms killed at least five people in Tennessee and one each in Missouri and Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called the devastation in his state “enormous” and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued.

There was massive destruction in Lake City in eastern Arkansas, where homes were flattened and cars were flipped and tossed into trees.

At least 318 tornado warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service since this week's tornado outbreak began early Wednesday, and that was likely to grow. It has already eclipsed the 300 tornado warnings issued during last month’s deadly outbreak in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and other states.

Not all tornado warnings involve an actual tornado, and it was too early to know how many were actually produced by the current outbreak.

The severe weather hit at a time when nearly half the National Weather Service's forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates — twice that of a decade ago — according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

The prolonged deluge, which could dump more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain over a four-day period, “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the National Weather Service said.

Private forecasting company AccuWeather said northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee needed to prepare for a catastrophic risk from flash flooding.

“This is a rare and dangerous atmospheric setup,” said Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather chief meteorologist.

Forecasters have also warned of major disruptions to shipping and supply chains. Shipping giant FedEx, for example, has a massive facility in the danger area, in Memphis Tennessee. Barge transportation on the lower Mississippi River could also be affected.

Water rescue teams and sandbags were being set up across the region in anticipation of flooding, and authorities warned people to take the threat of rising water seriously.

“We need everyone to understand that all water poses risk right now and to take every precaution," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Associated Press writers George Walker IV in Selmer, Tennessee; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky, contributed.