The mother of a Perth surfer murdered in Mexico nearly 10 years ago says her “heart is broken” for the parents of slain brothers Callum and Jake Robinson.
Zena Cattermole’s son Adam Coleman and his friend Dean Lucas were also on a surfing trip late in 2015 when they were murdered in the crime-plagued state of Sinaloa.
Mexican authorities said they were victims of highway bandits.
Callum, Jake and an American Jack Carter Rhoad were shot dead in Baja California, allegedly by thieves trying to steal their pick-up truck for its tyres.
Ms Cattermole posted on Facebook that “four special boys have been taken from us in the most horrific way possible”.
“My heart is broken for the Robinsons. I feel their pain through and through.”
“It’s the hardest road anyone can travel.”
Adam and Dean, both 33, were travelling from Edmonton in Canada to Mexico but failed to arrive as planned in the city of Guadalajara in November 2015.
Police later established that they got off a ferry in their van from the Baja California peninsula at Topolobampo in Sinaloa late at night and apparently began driving immediately
However, they didn’t get far.
Their bodies were found in the van in a rural area of Navolato, about 160km from Topolobampo..
The pair are thought to have been stopped by a gang flashing police lights.
The parents of Callum and Jake, Debra and Martin Robinson, paid an emotional tribute to their sons in San Diego overnight, urging those who had known the brothers to “live bigger, shine brighter and love harder” in honour of them.
“Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us,” Mrs Robinson said.