Woman linked to murders of American, Australian surfers in Mexico sentenced to 20 years in prison
Mexican woman sentenced in death of 3 surfers
A Mexican woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2024 killings of three surfers.
MEXICO CITY - A Mexican woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery with violence in connection with the 2024 killings of three surfers—two Australian brothers and an American friend—in Baja California.
What we know:
A judge sentenced Ary Gisell Silva Raya on Wednesday, Nov. 19, according to a statement from the Baja California State Prosecutor's Office.
Silva Raya's sentence comes after she pleaded guilty to robbery with violence in the case concerning the 2024 killings of American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, and Australian brothers Callum Ryan Robinson, 33, and Jake Martin Robinson, 30.
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The bodies of the three men, who had traveled from California to surf in the area, were discovered in a sparsely populated area 50 miles south of Ensenada, Mexico.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed that Silva Raya initiated contact with the three foreigners in the coastal area of Punta San Jose.
The backstory:
Rhoad and the Robinson brothers were reported missing on April 28, 2024 after they did not show up at their accommodation. The three men were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of Ensenada, posting idyllic photos on social media of waves and isolated beaches, before they disappeared.
Mexican prosecutors said the three men were shot and killed trying to fight off carjackers who had targeted them to steal the tires from their truck.
Their bodies were found in a remote well about 50 feet deep in a rugged hillside area near Ensenada.
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The prosecutor’s office stated that Silva Raya "instigated her companions to rob them of their belongings."
She was the romantic partner of one of the men currently charged in the killings.
Dig deeper:
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez — from the Baja peninsula. Authorities said they were victims of highway bandits. Three suspects were arrested in that case.
In 2022 alone, there were 66 million international visitors, including nearly 34 million U.S. tourists, according to Mexico's ministry of tourism.
What's next:
The three men arrested on charges for the killings remain in custody awaiting trial.
The Source: This report is based on information provided in a statement by the Baja California State Prosecutor’s Office. The details regarding the sentencing and the role of the convicted woman were confirmed by Mexican authorities and previous FOX 11 reports.