Mexican forensic examiners are at a site in Baja California where 3 bodies were reportedly found

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican forensic examiners were at a remote site in Baja California on Friday where three bodies were reportedly found, in the same area where two Australians and an American went missing last weekend.

An employee of the state prosecutors’ office who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Friday that examiners and emergency workers were trying to recover evidence found at the scene. But the employee would not say what that evidence was.

The site is near the township of Santo Tomás, south of Ensenada. That is the area where local media reported three bodies had been found.

Mexican news outlets and the local Talk Baja Facebook group all cited sources close to the investigation as saying the bodies had been found relatively near where the three foreigners went missing last weekend during what was apparently a surfing and camping trip.

The surfers’ tents and truck were found Thursday on a remote stretch of coast nearby. Three men — identified by family members as brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad — went missing Saturday in the area.

The U.S. State Department said: “We are aware of those reports (of bodies) and are closely monitoring the situation. At this time we have no further comment.”

Baja California prosecutors said Thursday they were questioning three people in the case.

María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state 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 linked to the three. The three foreigners were believed to have