Photo: Joshua Hall, deceased
by Charles Gladden
COROZAL TOWN, Mon. Dec. 30, 2024
After being last seen alive on Monday, December 23, 20-year-old Joshua Hall of San Antonio Village, Corozal District, was found dead in some bushes in the Dominguez Layout area of Corozal Town on Sunday, December 29.
On the day of his disappearance, Hall departed from his home at 8:30 a.m. on a pink bicycle with a basket at the front. He was dressed in a green shirt, black cargo pants, and slippers, and made his way to the Corozal Police Station to sign in, as he was on bail for a crime that he had been accused of committing.
“After Josh signed in, no one heard from him,” said the deceased’s father, James Hall. “He usually messages his girlfriend. He had a friend [with whom] he was going to do a job [that] morning, but he was going to drop all of that. So, we were certain he was going to come back home,” he added.
“When my wife came home, she asked if we had heard from Josh. We said, no. She assumed he met the fellow and went and did a little extra. But when we realized that the day was ending and we hadn’t heard from him… when he goes to work with those fellows, he usually returns around 5 o’clock or 5:15 or around that hour; but, nothing. Around 7 o’clock, my wife and I went to the station to see if Josh had gone in to sign; and they showed us the book with his signature with the officer’s name,” Hall’s father further explained.
Amandala confirmed that Hall signed in at the station at 8:58 a.m.; but after that, he mysteriously disappeared, with officers who were on duty when he went to the station being unable to confirm his departure.
“The question is that I asked if they can assure me [that] Joshua had left the police station; but the officer working that morning had changed shift. So, the officer [on duty] called his fellow officer and asked if Joshua had signed. He said, yes. And when we asked if he had left the station, he said he couldn’t say; and we asked three of them,” Hall’s father noted.
Throughout the week, Hall’s relatives made desperate public pleas for his return, even offering a handsome reward of $5,000 for information about his whereabouts, and carrying out searches within the surrounding villages of Corozal. The family kept in mind that there had been occasions in the past when Hall could not be found, but he had always managed to find his way home. However, because of how much time had passed since his most recent disappearance, they were expecting the worst, and searching for any clues that may lead to his body.
“For the [number] of days, I don’t want to admit it in my heart or my mind. I would like to have hope that thinking that my son will return home to me, but as the clock ticks and the days go by, it seems that it’s not happening. It’s impossible, and it touched me so deeply that I [didn’t] get [any] reply or assistance from the police. It’s like the dog was missing,” Hall’s father emotionally said.
Those searches ended after 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, when Joshua Hall’s motionless body was found in the Dominguez Layout area with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the Corozal Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The mourning family brought up allegations that police officers in Corozal may have played a role in executing Joshua Hall; however, on Tuesday, December 31, when reporters brought up the allegations to Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, those allegations were dispelled.
“They know fully well who is behind the killing of their loved one, and those persons who are behind that killing are not police officers. I would concede with them that the police may have acted slowly when they came to the police station to make the complaint, because the police are to have taken the complaint seriously from the inception, and assisted them in doing what needed to have been done to locate their loved one,” he said.
ComPol Williams highlighted that Hall’s former associates potentially may be involved with his death, as his body was found near the home of one of those persons. Thus, the suspect is detained pending investigation.
Additional reports speculate that in 2022, Hall was the main suspect in the death of a well-known taximan in Corozal, as Hall’s body was found at the same location where the cab driver’s body was found. Nonetheless, ComPol Williams expressed that they are looking to determine whether both cases are connected, as Hall was never charged with that murder.
The deceased Hall was expecting the birth of his first child with his girlfriend in the upcoming days.