SANTA CRUZ, Stann Creek District, Fri. Aug. 14, 2020– A post-mortem exam conducted on the decomposed body of Julia Timotea Millian Moran, 39, a Guatemalan national of Santa Cruz who was found buried in a shallow grave in Steadfast, Stann Creek District, at about 5:30 Saturday evening, has revealed that her death was caused by traumatic bronchial asphyxiation and blunt force head trauma.
At the time the corpse was found in the shallow grave, police said that signs of violence were not seen on the body.
Moran’s sister told police on Friday that she last saw her sister on Thursday, July 30, when she left home in Santa Cruz to go to an unknown destination. Despite efforts to contact her and searches carried out to find her, her whereabouts were unknown.
The search to find her came to a sad conclusion at about 5:30 Saturday evening. She was found decomposing in a shallow grave on a farm in the Mile 16 Valley Road area.
A man who was seen with her in Dangriga was detained for questioning, and he led police to Mile 16 on the Stann Creek Valley Road, which then led to a feeder road, which then led to a citrus and pineapple farm.
There, police observed an area of the ground that appeared to have been recently dug up. The area was dug up, and after digging for about 3 feet, police found the decomposing body of a woman dressed in a pair of blue jeans pants with red underwear. The woman was topless.
The body was identified by Moran’s brother.
Jorge Arturo Leon, 55, a security officer of Santa Cruz, has been charged with her death. He has not yet appeared in court for arraignment.