Photo: Juan Raymundo and Marvin Cante, missing
by Charles Gladden
BELMOPAN, Mon. Dec. 2, 2024
Two taxi drivers from Belmopan have been reported missing. The men have not been seen since Wednesday, November 27, and their families are increasingly concerned.
The two men, who are cousins from the Maya Mopan area, 37-year-old Marvin Cante and 32-year-old Juan Raymundo, had departed Belmopan and headed to Belize City on the day they disappeared, but they never made it to their destination, and the vehicle in which they had been traveling was later found near Mile 24 on the Philip Goldson Highway with the engine running.
Photo: Borrowed vehicle was found
ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander for the Belize Police Department’s Eastern Division, confirmed to the media that one of the men had borrowed a car from his neighbor to embark on their journey.
ACP Romero told local reporters that searches are being carried out in the surrounding area, which includes villages such as La Democracia, Mahogany Heights, and areas on the Coastal Road.
Rosa Alonso, a former common-law wife of Juan Raymundo, with whom she shares a 3-year-old son, indicated that the last time they saw each other was on the morning of his disappearance when they dropped off their son at school.
She said that they stayed at her home until midday when Raymundo departed; however, when she made attempts throughout the day to reach out to him via text messages, those messages went undelivered, indicating that Raymundo didn’t receive them, which raised suspicions.
“When I close my shop at around 9 [o’clock], I seh this nuh normal, because 11 hours since he was last active; so I seh, let me check with friends or anybody, and nobody heard from him. Around 10 [o’clock] I called the police station, because if he [got into any] accident they would know. At this time, I wasn’t aware that Marvin Cante was also missing; and around 11 [o’clock] I texted him thinking maybe he was drinking, or his phone died, and you wahn believe, but you know your person,” she said.
Alonso mentioned that when she arrived at Raymundo’s home the following day, police officers were at the residence, and she was informed that the borrowed vehicle was found with blood stains, and a pair of keys belonging to Cante was found inside.
“You know when you hear news like that … it’s been happening around in Belize, so you fear for the worst at the moment; and then they say they can’t find a body, they can’t find anybody else, and nothing else around or in the car,” she said.
“… from then onwards we’ve been waiting, calling his number, no ring, no messages cannot get delivered, nothing, no hint, no proof. We’ve been searching from point-to-point borders. We’ve been checking rivers, bushes, [and] anywhere that looks suspicious. We no find anything like to hold on to, to say they are okay,” Alonso added.
In addition to the search that’s being conducted by police in the surrounding villages, the families of the missing men are coordinating their own searches from Belmopan to Burrell Boom, with some relatives also searching in the Orange Walk District.
Currently, however, there is no information indicating that the men had been behaving strangely or were in conflicts with anyone.
“We have all come together and tried to brainstorm how they were behaving strangely and that’s why I feel like we were not expecting something like this,” Alonso said.
As of this evening, Raymundo and Cante had not been found.