SAN IGNACIO, Cayo District, Wed. Mar. 27, 2019– The search for University of Belize student Kevin Frutos, 26, of Bullet Tree, Cayo District, who was reported missing since 9:30 Friday night, came to a sad conclusion this morning.
Police told us that they were called to an area on George Price Boulevard, near Our Lady of Guadalupe High School in Belmopan, where they found a body buried in a shallow grave. Police said the body was in a state of decomposition and it appeared that there had been attempts to burn it.
Police said that they saw a large cut on the deceased person’s neck. Frutos’ family, who had gone to Belmopan to search for him, was called to the area, where they identified the body as that of their loved one.
The body was recovered and taken to the Western Regional Hospital’s morgue, where an autopsy was carried out and at the end, the doctor who conducted the exam, concluded that Frutos’ throat had been slashed, and this was the cause of his death.
After the autopsy, Frutos’ body was taken to the San Ignacio Town Cemetery, where he was buried immediately due to the advanced state of decomposition of his remains.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Myvette, said that the investigation into Frutos’ murder is so far indicating that it was the result of a robbery. He said that five men have been detained and he is confident that charges will be brought against them.
Myvette said that Frutos’ belongings were found with the men. He said that they believe that Frutos didn’t know the men with whom he had been drinking prior to his death.
Myvette also said that police believe that Frutos was murdered at the same location where his body was found. He said that the case file has already been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for her directives, and he is confident that charges will be brought against the suspected killers.
Frutos’s brother said that he had worked in the Valley of Peace and after collecting his salary on Friday evening, he had begun to socialize in the village with his coworkers.
Later, they took him to the Belmopan Bus Terminal, where he was supposed to have boarded a bus to go home to Bullet Tree, after which his friends left. However, he did not go home.
Frutos was seen in a bar in Belmopan that same Friday night, drinking with some men. Footage from cameras in the bar and the surrounding area show him leaving the bar in a pickup with the men.
Frutos’ brother said that when he stayed out at night, which he did not often do, he would go home in the morning, and so, when he did not reach home on Saturday, they knew that something was wrong and they became worried.
Frutos’s brother said they then began an initial search for him, which led them to Belmopan this morning.
He added that after his brother was missing for some time, his family began to believe that he was dead, and they were determined to find him and bury him in order to get closure.
The devastated brother said that it was very difficult to find his brother dead and in such a state of decomposition.