Mexican authorities reveal bizarre reason they believe Australians, American were murdered on surfing vacation

Mexican authorities say two Australians and an American were killed on a surfing trip because thieves wanted the tires from their truck. Relatives of those killed confirmed their identities on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

The latest details in the case come after a fourth body was discovered during a search for the missing men in Baja California. State prosecutors have not officially confirmed the identities of the missing men, but have said the victims’ family members are viewing the bodies to see if they can be identified by sight.

The corpses were found decomposing after the thieves dumped them into a remote well about 50 feet deep, some four miles from where the men were killed, authorities said. The well also contained a fourth cadaver that had been there much longer.

Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez said the probability that the corpses belong to the missing men is “very high,” noting that they still appeared to be identifiable by sight. “If they say that they are not completely certain that it is their relative, we would then have to carry out genetic testing.”

UTAH HUNTER FINDS SKELETAL REMAINS OF MAN MISSING SINCE 2019 IN REMOTE MOUNTAINS

The three men, brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada when they went missing last weekend.

Andrade Ramírez theorized the killers drove by and saw the foreigners’ pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal their tires. But “when [the foreigners] came up and caught them, surely, they resisted.”

She said that’s when the killers would have shot the tourists.

The thieves then allegedly went to what she called “a site that is extremely hard to get to” and allegedly dumped the bodies into a familiar well. She said investigators were not ruling out the possibility the same suspects also dumped the first, earlier body in the well as part of previous crimes.

“They may have been looking for trucks in this area,” Andrade Ramírez said.

MAN CONVICTED OF KIDNAPPING GIRLFRIEND, SUFFOCATING HER IN NEVADA DESERT

The thieves allegedly covered the well with boards. “It was literally almost impossible to find it,” Andrade Ramírez said, and it took two hours to winch the bodies out of the well.

The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomás was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and truck were found Thursday along the coast. 

On Sunday, dozens of mourners, surfers and demonstrators gathered in a main plaza in Ensenada, the nearest city, to voice their anger and sadness at the deaths.

“Ensenada is a mass grave,” read one placard carried by protesters. “Australia, we are with you,” one man scrawled on one of the half-dozen surf boards at the demonstration. A woman held up a sign that read “They only wanted to surf — we demand safe beaches.”

Baja California prosecutors had said they were questioning three people in the case, two of them because they were caught with methamphetamines. Prosecutors said the two were being held pending drug charges but continue to be suspects in the case. 

A third man was arrested on charges of a crime equivalent to kidnapping, but that was before the bodies were found. It was unclear if he might face more charges.

The third suspect was believed to have directly participated in the killings. In keeping with Mexican law, prosecutors identified him by his first name, Jesús Gerardo, alias “el Kekas,” a slang word that means “quesadillas,” or cheese tortillas. 

Andrade Ramírez said he had a criminal record, and that more people may have been involved.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ABC News president Kim Godwin steps down after reports of turmoil at the network

After viral reports over tension within the network, ABC News president Kim Godwin will be stepping down.

In an email sent out to staff on Sunday night, Godwin announced that she would be retiring from her position after being appointed in 2021.

“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin said in the email obtained by Fox News Digital.

She continued, “Anyone who’s passionate about what we do knows there’s no other business like it, so this was not an easy or quick decision. But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family.”

ABC’S MORALE HITS ‘ALL-TIME’ LOW AS ‘BANKER’ PRESIDENT KIM GOODWIN OVERSEES ANCHORS’ ROMANCE INVESTIGATION

Godwin also praised the network for hiring her as the first Black woman to head a national news network.

“I understood and appreciated the profound significance of being the first Black woman to lead a national broadcast news network when I accepted the role as president of ABC News a little over three years ago. It’s both a privilege and a debt to those who chipped away at the ceiling before me to lead a team whose brand is synonymous with trust, integrity and a dogged determination to be the best in the business,” she said.

Disney Networks president Debra OConnell also sent out a statement thanking Godwin for her work.

“Dana and I would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Kim for her service as president of ABC News. Kim has navigated this team through consequential times in our world, and she did so with respect for the brand and profession – and for that and more, we thank her,” OConnell wrote.

OConnell also stated that she would be heading up the ABC News division as they move through this “period of transition.”

Godwin reportedly faced internal backlash at the network over her leadership style, as frustrated insiders at ABC argued OConnell needed to take action. 

“She has to take swift moves,” a person close to ABC’s internal operations told CNN of OConnell. “People there are restless. They are extremely frustrated.”

Several ABC News staffers also told CNN that Godwin had made several prominent mistakes, including the creation of an inner circle that has “alienated staffers,” according to the report.

ABC NEWS BOSS KIM GODWIN UNDER FIRE FOR HANDLING OF AMY ROBACH, T.J. HOLMES AFFAIR: ‘IT’S EMBARRASSING’

Godwin has also privately complained of being micromanaged by OConnell, according to Puck News. The outlet reported that in conversations with several current ABC News employees, that “representation” and the fact that Godwin is the first Black woman to head a broadcast news division, had become the obvious, underlying problem in any discussions about the future of the company, and her possible firing. 

“Race in the workplace is so nuanced that it can be easily weaponized by all sides and bad actors of any race,” a Black ABC News veteran told Puck.

“Disney fell into the trap of the soft bigotry of low expectations and appointed someone everyone knows is unqualified to do the job… Now [they] are worried that firing the first Black woman would be an act of racism, when she is simply bad at her job,” the person continued.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP