ELDRIDGE VILLAGE, Toledo District, Mon. June 7, 2021– Over the weekend, separate discoveries were made of two extensively decomposed bodies, both of which were found in the southern part of the country. Some members of the public have been speculating that the bodies may be the remains of persons involved in the narco plane crash that occurred in the area last month, but the Police Department has said that it is not possible to make such a determination at such an early stage in their investigation.
One of the bodies was found in the waters off the coast of Placencia Village near Whipray Caye and was brought onshore by the Belize Coast Guard. Reports indicate that only the partial remains of the upper portion of the deceased person’s body was found, and it was not possible, due to the advanced state of decomposition of the remains, to find any distinguishable features that could help police identify the deceased person. The partial corpse was taken to a morgue in that area, and the police are awaiting the results of a postmortem exam.
The second body was discovered in Eldridge Village. A villager from the area had alerted the Police Department of the discovery of what appeared to be a human body. When police arrived at the scene shortly before noon on Friday, June 4, they found the remains in the nearby bushes. Several pieces of the victim’s clothing were found near the body.
No missing person report had been filed in that area, but police believe the body is that of Oscar Garcia, who was residing in Independence Village. While the police’s suspicions were initially raised by the apparent inaction of Garcia’s family, who seemed oblivious of his disappearance two months ago, they have so far accepted the family’s claims that they did not know he was missing. Samples of the clothing of the deceased person were extracted from the site. The police hope to use these samples to determine whether the remains are indeed that of Garcia.
The police continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of these two persons. They hope forensic tests may provide them with the pertinent information to close the two cases.