Photo: Burley Thompson, Jr.

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 15, 2024

Over the weekend two bodies were found – one in rural Belize and the other in San Ignacio Town – and authorities explained to the media that neither of the bodies displayed signs of foul play.

The first body, identified as Mansfield Jones, was found on Saturday, July 13, floating in a canal in the Vista Del Mar area of Ladyville, Belize District

ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander of the Belize Police Department Eastern Division, explained to reporters that Jones wasn’t reported missing, but he received information that the body was found a short distance from his home. He also mentioned that when authorities retrieved the body, it displayed no signs of harm.

The second body, that of Burley Thompson, Jr., was found over the weekend, on Sunday, July 14, shortly after 11:00 a.m., floating motionless in the Macal River in San Ignacio Town.

Before his untimely death, Thompson was reportedly last seen several hours earlier walking down the hill from the San Ignacio Hotel on the George Price Highway toward the direction of the San Ignacio Police Station.

Following the time when he was last seen after 3:00 p.m., Thompson’s family pleaded with the public via social media to locate him as he didn’t make it home. He was unofficially reported missing, but his family didn’t make any formal complaint to authorities.

At the time above, when bystanders noticed his motionless body floating in the river, authorities arrived at the scene where the body was fished out and was pronounced dead.

ACP Romero mentioned that Thompson’s body, similarly to Jones’s body, had no sign of injury. Nonetheless, post-mortem examinations will be done to determine the cause of death for both individuals.