Tests in Mexico to see if charred bodies those of missing surfers

Australians Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman failed to arrive in Guadalajara 10 days ago

Mexican authorities inspect a burnt out van suspected to belong to Australian tourists missing for more than a week in Sinaloa, Mexico. Two burned bodies where reportedly found inside the vehicle. The tourists, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman were traveling from Edmonton, Canada and were scheduled to arrive on November 21st in the city of Guadalajara but failed to appear. Photograph: AP.

Prosecutors in Mexico are performing forensic tests on two badly burned bodies as part of the search for two missing Australians.

The bodies were found in a burned-out van of the type the two were driving in the northern state of Sinaloa when they went missing around November 20th. The state is infamous for the presence of a notorious narcotics cartel.

Guadalupe Martinez, a spokesman for the Sinaloa state prosecutors office, said much of the van’s paint had burned off and the bodies were so badly burned that only tests such as DNA or dental records could identify them.

Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, both keen surfers, were travelling from Edmonton in Canada to Mexico and failed to arrive as planned on November 21st in the city of Guadalajara. Photograph: Facebook.

Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, both keen surfers, were travelling from Edmonton in Canada to Mexico and failed to arrive as planned on November 21st in the city of Guadalajara.

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The van was found about 200 km south of where they were last seen and about 700km north of Guadalajara, according to an official in Sinaloa’s local prosecutor’s office.

The girlfriends of the two men are helping with DNA testing, he said.

Agencies