Culiacan, Mexico, Dec 1 (EFE).– The burned van found with two bodies inside in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa last month belonged to the two Australian surfers reported missing in the area, state officials said.

The van was found on Nov. 21 in the city of Navolato and investigators suspect that the bodies found in the vehicle are those of Dean Lucas and Adam Russell Coleman, both 33, Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office spokesmen told EFE.

Investigators are awaiting the arrival of the surfers’ relatives so that DNA samples can be taken and the bodies identified.

There is no doubt that the van belonged to the missing Australians, who disappeared on Nov. 20 while driving to Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco, where the girlfriend of one of the victims lives, Sinaloa Attorney General Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez said.

The men were traveling in a 1992 van and used a ferry to cross the Sea of Cortes from La Paz, a city in Baja California Sur state, to Topolobampo, a city in Sinaloa.

The Australians drove all afternoon after making the crossing and were last seen at a convenience store, where an employee told them the best route to Mazatlan, a resort city in Sinaloa.

The route taken by the Australians goes through the city of Navolato, where the burned bodies of two unidentified people were found inside a charred vehicle on Nov. 21.

Andrea Gomez, Coleman’s girlfriend and a Guadalajara resident, told EFE she was sure the van belonged to the surfers but was still hopeful that the vehicle had been stolen from the men and “they are kidnapped.”

Coleman planned to stay in Mexico with his girlfriend, while Lucas was scheduled to fly to London on Dec. 3, completing his trip to North America. EFE