by Charles Gladden

ORANGE WALK, Mon. May 26, 2025

After being reported missing by relatives on Wednesday, May 21, 49-year-old James Mendez, a mechanic of San Pablo Village, Orange Walk District, was found dead in a well near Nuevo San Juan Village on Friday, May 23.

Police reported that, around 11:00 a.m. that Friday, officers arrived at a farm approximately 2 miles from Nuevo San Juan Village. While searching the area, they discovered the lifeless body of Mendez inside a well estimated to be 40 feet deep. He was wearing a pair of short pants and was shirtless, and his body was in an advanced state of decomposition.

After retrieving the body and taking a closer look at it, police found a small cut wound across Mendez’s chest. His body was then taken to the Northern Regional Hospital.

Mendez’s relatives reportedly last saw him alive on Tuesday, May 20, when he entered an unknown vehicle and left for an unknown location. There have also been reports that Mendez, who was also an occasional car dealer, owed some of his colleagues an amount of money.