Australian Surfers Missing In Mexico Feared Dead: Dean Lucas, Adam Coleman’s Van Reportedly Found
Two Australian surfers are missing, and many fear they may be dead after their burned-out van was discovered in a dangerous area. Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas had been on a surfing trip that took them to Mexico, but they have now been missing for more than a week.
As CNN details, both Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, from the area of Perth, Australia, were due to be in Guadalajara, Mexico, on November 21. They never arrived as expected. The missing Australian surfers had been living in Canada and headed together to Mexico for a surfing trip.
A van believed to belong to the missing Australian surfers was found in Sinaloa, Mexico, reports the Guardian. Two bodies were found inside the burned van, and loved ones are traveling to the area to help in identifying the bodies. The girlfriends of the two men, Andrea Gomez and Josie Cox, were bringing items that should help with DNA tests to identify whether the bodies found in the van are indeed Coleman and Lucas.
Sinaloa is said to be the home of the powerful drug cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who has been on the run for months. As the Sydney Morning Herald details, Sinaloa has the second-highest murder rate of any state in Mexico, and the United States typically advises staying out of the area other than to visit Mazatlan.
The Australian surfers went missing as they traveled toward Guadalajara, where they were slated to meet up with Gomez, Coleman’s girlfriend. She shares that she had worried about them traveling in the area and had warned them that it was a dangerous region. Naturally, nobody expected their trip to end the way it seemingly has.
Gomez has shared that the missing Australian surfers had been traveling at night because they were in a rush to get to Guadalajara and that they had been spotted at a convenience store in Sinaloa looking for a map on November 20. Coleman was planning to stay with Gomez in Mexico, while Lucas had been planning to head with Cox to the United Kingdom after the surfing trip.
Fears are building for the safety of two #WA surfers missing in Mexico. #finddeanandadam https://t.co/gjNKbXZ1RY pic.twitter.com/TilWTz18ic
— PerthNow (@perthnow) November 29, 2015
The van and its contents seem to match the burned van found in the area. However, authorities have not yet been able to confirm for certain that Coleman and Lucas were still with the van at the time it was burned. While family members are waiting for confirmation of DNA tests, Coleman’s mother reportedly posted on Facebook that she believed her son was gone.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the families in their travels to Mexico to get answers about what happened to the missing Australian surfers. The goal of the page is to raise $60,000, and in just a day, more than $41,000 has been donated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7_xfuhYLkw
The fundraising page notes that the families of Coleman and Lucas hold deep fears for their sons, but they are still holding out hope until further details are released. They ask that people not speculate about what happened to Dean or Adam until the authorities confirm the details after the investigation and DNA test results come together.
With the families expected to meet with authorities on Monday, additional details regarding the status of the Australian surfers missing in Mexico should emerge soon. Friends and family are still holding out hope for good news regarding the whereabouts of Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, but the situation clearly appears to be quite dire.
[Image via Josie Cox’s Facebook page]
