CULIACAN, Mexico – The burned bodies found inside a van in Navolato, a city in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, three weeks ago are those of Australians Dean Lucas and Adam Russell Coleman, officials said Tuesday.
DNA tests done by Australian authorities confirmed the victims’ identities, Sinaloa Attorney General Marco Antonio Higuera told reporters.
“The only thing I can tell you is that, yes, it is those persons. What we’re waiting for are the official results,” Higuera said.
The bodies will be released once the official results are received by state authorities, a process that could be concluded next week, the AG said.
Lucas and Coleman, both 33, disappeared on Nov. 20 while driving to Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco, where Andrea Gomez, the girlfriend of one of the victims, lives.
The surfers were traveling in a 1992 van and used a ferry to cross the Sea of Cortes from La Paz, a city in Baja California Sur state, to Topolobampo, a city in Sinaloa.
The Australians drove all afternoon after making the crossing and were last seen at a convenience store, where an employee told them the best route to Mazatlan, a resort city in Sinaloa.
The route taken by the Australians goes through the city of Navolato, where the burned bodies of two unidentified people were found inside a charred vehicle on Nov. 21.
The Sinaloa AG’s office said on Dec. 4 that three suspects had been arrested in connection with the murders and two others were being sought.
The suspects under arrest, identified as Julio Cesar Gonzalez Muñiz, Martin Rogelio Muñiz Ponce and Sergio Simon Benitez Gonzalez, have prior criminal records on drug and vehicle theft charges.
The men were arrested in the same area where the killings were committed, prosecutors said, adding that the Australians were murdered during a robbery attempt.
Investigators are still looking for the other two suspects in the case, Higuera said.
