Jake and Callum Robinson plus Jack Carter Rhode memorialized.
One of the more heart-wrenching stories, from last year, was the grisly murder of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American pal Jack Carter Rhode. The three had traveled to northern Baja, just a stone’s throw over the border from San Diego, on a classic surf jaunt.
Days after disappearing, their bodies were found dumped in a well.
Three Mexican nationals were arrested for the crime, allegedly attempting to steal the tires off the surfers’ pickup first.
Well, the local surfing community just unveiled a very handsome monument on the bluff overlooking the wave where the three were camping.
Antonio Otañez, president of the Baja California Surfing Association, shared with Fox News, “(The slayings made us very sad. In all the world we have a brotherhood with surfers, so we want to honor our brother surfers from Australia and the U.S.A. that’s the least we can do.”
The memorial features three statues carved from oak, around six feet tall, standing on a bluff, gazing inland.
“For the design we put the two brothers together,” Otañez continued, “the Australians, and the American just off to the side, they’re made out of wood because of the weather and everything, that way they will be here forever — I’ve been coming here for 30 years, I’ve brought my wife, my daughter and friends and we have always been safe here.”
The dedication ceremony was attended by surfers from both sides of the border along with representatives from Australia’s Mexico Embassy and was followed by a paddle-out.