Reports that four Belizeans, three family members and a close friend, travelling through Mexico had been robbed and killed thankfully turned out to be false.
They are all back in Belize today, safe and sound, but very upset considering the false report of their murder.
We spoke to the Mexican Ambassador to Belize, Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno, who said that they had spoken to the mother of one of the missing persons, and that she had confirmed that they were all alive and safe at the Northern Mexican border.
But last night the story was different, as media outlets from across the country were reporting a disturbing tragedy. The unconfirmed reports were that married couple Aricia and Kirk Mariano; car dealer Wilfred “Nancy” Burgess; and the police’s scenes-of-crimes’ technician Constable Martin Rodriguez, were all murdered in Tamaulipa, Mexico, between Puerto la Marina and San Fernando, while on their way back from the United States of America.
Belizeans from across the country became very concerned, posting messages of solidarity and hope on the Internet.
Liz Hulse, on the Internet, said, “Please God, protect Martin Rodriguez, Kirk and Aricia.”
John Mariano, Jr. said on the Internet: “I hope for the best; these are my family members. The Marianos are very strong people; we will get through this.”
The four Belizeans were traveling in a line of vehicles, the reports were, when they were suddenly attacked by a group of robbers along an express way.
The scare began when a cousin of Mariano’s, Charles Flores, who was at the Mexican border, called the family and told them that he had heard aboutan incident of some Belizeans being shot and killed, and that Kirk Mariano’s name had been called out.
This morning we visited Ms. Jean Bailey, Burgess’ mother. We asked her whether she could confirm if her son was dead or alive. She told us that her daughter had called her last night, telling her that her son was killed in Mexico, but aside from that call, no one has come to confirm if he is alive or dead.
We also made contact with a reliable source in the Mexican Embassy who told us that although the news of their alleged murder in Mexico had spread throughout the country, they were not certain of the allegations, as they could not make any confirmation in Mexico City.
We later visited Ms. Bailey after the confirmation that her son was known to be alive, and she told us that she knew her son was alive when she felt a “beat” in her stomach.
But although the four are back in Belize, they are very upset about the pain and anxiety the allegations caused.
They are expected to return to their home in Western Pines later this evening. We tried contacting Burgess, but his cell phone appeared to be busy.
It was about 6:00 p.m. today when we got to speak to one of the persons who was presumed to be dead.
“Fi tell yu di truth, we not even know weh mi di happen, but when we ge da di border, we get some text di seh we dead da Mexico. And dat dah di only thing I ku basically seh, because we neva know nothing until we reach Belize. No one mi call di embassy di seh we dead; dat da no true. We neva mi di tek long fi kum because we kum back pan wan schedule time so I no andastan how di situation blow up.
“Me, mi husband, mi husband cousin and fi he friend mi di come together. We di go purchase vehicle fi ova 10 years. I thankful [to] everyone who mi pray fi we, and I also thank the Ministry of Foreign affairs fi get involved, and all the embassies. I don’t think I have to tek any precautions the next time I go back, because we neva do nothing out a di ordinary,” said Aricia Mariano.
A car dealer today told us that whosoever fabricated that lie is simply wicked. Also, he believes that the person did so out of envy. He added that in these difficult times when money is scarce, sales are very low and the truth is that only those dealers who have been in the business for long can prosper in it now.