The founder of a surfing school in Santa Barbara has been arrested after he allegedly stabbed his two young children to death in Mexico, according to numerous news reports.
Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, was taken into custody as he tried to cross from Tijuana into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Coleman, the founder of the Lovewater Surf School in Santa Barbara, allegedly traveled to Rosarito, which is on the coast south of Tijuana, and checked into a hotel Saturday with his 3-year-old son, Kaleo, and 1-year-old daughter, Roxy.
The Union-Tribune quoted a Baja California prosecutor as saying Coleman left the hotel in the early morning hours on Monday with both children, and returned a few hours later without them.
A farm worker reportedly discovered the remains of the two children, who both had been stabbed multiple times, later in the morning at a ranch between Tijuana and Ensenada.
U.S. authorities were alerted that Coleman, who was identified in other news reports as Matthew Taylor, likely would be trying to return to the U.S., and he was apprehended by Border Patrol officers as he approached the point of entry.
Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI field office in Los Angeles, released a statement saying her agency is working with the Santa Barbara Police Department following a report it received Sunday about three missing persons — “one adult male and his two children, who are believed to have crossed the southern border into Mexico.”
Beyond that, she told Noozhawk, she could confirm only that the adult male is in federal custody and the investigation is continuing.
A statement released by the Santa Barbara Police Department indicated that a woman, whom it did not identify, reported that her husband and children had been missing for 24 hours, and she was “concerned for their well-being.”
The website for the Lovewater Surf School indicates that Coleman was born and raised in Santa Barbara.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Point Loma University and a master’s degree from UCSB, and founded the surf school with his wife, Abby.
Sources told Noozhawk that Coleman had not been formally charged as of Tuesday evening, but it was possible a criminal complaint would be filed in federal court on Wednesday.
Under federal law, someone reportedly can be charged with the murder of a U.S. citizen in a foreign country.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.