Early in the morning of Saturday, July 31, hours after Reyes went missing, a building located near the corner of Central American Boulevard and Fabers Road, where he worked as a watchman, was burned down. According to our reports, Reyes never showed up to work, as was expected.

By the end of Tuesday, police forensic pathologist, Dr. Mario Estradabran, who had examined the skeletal remains believed to be those of Reyes, had determined that the victim had been fatally struck in the head with a blunt object. The pathologist continued to examine the forensic evidence for more clues.

In the meantime, Reyes? family is still awaiting a positive identification from authorities.

Reyes? brother, Elvin Palacio, 34, told the newspaper that he strongly believes that the man found lying down in the mangrove swamps is his brother.

At their family home at the corner of Solidarity and Malcolm X Streets, Elvin revisited the events and told us how desperately the family awaits an answer as to whether the skeleton remains are that of his brother.

Elvin said that the deceased man wore a pair of khaki pants that looked like the pair his brother was wearing on the day he disappeared. This was the only thing identifiable to him, since the body had already decomposed beyond recognition, and had no other clothing or any other personal items on it when it was discovered.

He said the body found was lying on its back, with two tree trunks over it, pinning it down and keeping it submerged in the muddy water.

Elvin said that he also saw a dent in the middle of the man?s skull, and is certain that if the body is his brother?s, that he was murdered.

Benito?s mother and his daughter were the last family members who saw him alive at their Malcolm X Street home in the Port Loyola area at around 8:00 on Friday morning, July 30, recalls Elvin.

Benito had come off his early Friday morning shift at 6:00, and he was not due to report to work again until 12:00 midnight that Friday. However, none of his relatives saw him all day Friday.

Elvin said that on Friday, he had gone to his mother?s home to get the key for the Muslim building, belonging to Kaleem El Amin, from his brother, so that he could do some repairs to the building, but he was not there.

Elvin said that he knows for a fact that Benito never made it to work the Friday night, July 31, because he had checked at his work spot around 12:00 midnight, when his shift was due to start, and he was not there.

It was at this point that he went to the police station to file a missing person report, but he was told that he had to wait another 12 hours because Benito had been missing for only 12 hours.

Elvin recalled that on Thursday, two days prior to the fire, Reyes had stopped some intruders from breaking into the building. He said, however, that there was no physical contact between Benito and the intruders that may have led them to want to hurt him in anyway.

The second possible scenario, said Elvin, is that he was killed in a drug-related act of revenge. About June of this year, two young men had followed his brother home after they had an altercation on Central American Boulevard. The men, he said, insisted that his brother knew the whereabouts of some drugs.

Benito was born in Guatemala. He came to Belize with his mother in 1971 and became a naturalized Belizean.

Apart from working as a security guard at the Muslim establishment, Benito worked at Brodies Ltd., also as security guard. Before that, he was a seaman.

He is survived by his mother, two brothers, three sisters, and four children.