It was the American writer Mark Twain who said, "The news of my death has been greatly exaggerated..." And so it was for husband and wife Kurt and Aricia Mariano, their cousin Martin Rodriguez, and car dealer Wilfred Burgess. Contrary to reports on this newscast and every major media outlet, they are alive and well. They returned to Belize today, on schedule, after bringing a pair of vehicles through Mexico.
As was reported on 7news and every other major media house last night, unconfirmed reports from the Mariano family said that they had been killed in an armed robbery somewhere between Mexico and Belize. We stressed that there was no official confirmation. And that was because, no such thing happened – it was only death by rumor. And everyone is thankful for that except for Kurt Mariano – who was understandably bewildered by the fact that a whole nation was between worry and grief for him – when he was fine.
This morning, his cousin Agnes told us the family was clinging to hope.
Agnes Mariano, Cousin
"All we have is hope and we are asking everybody if they could please pray for them and please let them reach home safely."
Prayers answered, they arrived today, without incident. They weren't harmed, hurt or even harassed. It was all a colossal misunderstanding.
Jules Vasquez Reporting
"So. Kurt, you're alive."
Kurt Mariano, Car Dealer
"Yes. Yeah." (laughs)
Jules Vasquez
"What started this whole story? Do you have any idea?"
Kurt Mariano, Car Dealer
"I'm not sure."
Jules Vasquez
"So when did you become aware that you had been reported murdered?"
Kurt Mariano, Car Dealer
"When I got to the border today, about 12 or close to 12 o'clock."
Jules Vasquez
"So you travelled to Mexico without incident?"
Kurt Mariano, Car Dealer
"No. No incident. I didn't know something was happening in Belize."
Marva Garcia, Sister
"This morning we actually went, we hoped that we would find them at the border. And at the same time, we had some doubt, probably we would have been bringing back some bodies. That's why we went in the pick-up. But on our way, we were just praying and hoping that we would have gotten some good news."
"Right before we got to the border, my phone rang and I saw Kurt and I was...like...let this be him. And I answered hello. And he was like, 'Marva, whats going on.?'"
"And I am like, 'Kurt, we heard that you, Martin, everybody was dead, Aricia was dead."
Delly Staine, Mother of Kurt Mariano
"Right now I feel so happy, I don't know how I feel....I feel so happy and glad to know that he's at home."
Reporter
"How hard was it for you to get through last night."
Delly Staine, Mother of Kurt Mariano
"Last night, we didnt sleep none at all. We just sit up and pray and wish for the best to come. And so thank God, today we heard good news. Because by this time, I would have already dropped."
She spent a day of needless torture, and Kurt's sister Marva who met him at the border today does have an idea of where the rumour all started. She says it's all a misunderstanding based on another incident.
Marva Garcia, Sister
"Oh, they had talked about some set of Americans that had gotten killed. But it was a woman and 3 men. So what they are thinking is that when some Belizean dealers came through, they probably heard that and know that my brother was travelling with his wife and two other men. So right there, they thought that it was them and there was no other official anything that came to us so the message just came by and they relayed it to us and we went ahead and tried to find ways how we could know if its really them or not. And we started to call, just all the links that we could have gotten out information and try to get feedback, we did that last night. Everybody just stayed up because we were hoping that any minute they would have shown up. And this morning we said well, you know what, we need to go. We need to move."
But there are legitimate dangers as veteran car dealer Ram Burgos found out when he pulled over at high speed near the town of San Fernando, a few weeks ago.
Ram Burgos, Car Dealer
"I had to come to a stop because the guy pulled up approximately about 3 to 4 feet from where I was driving on the highway. At 70 to 80 miles an hour. You know, that's very scary."
"There came a guy that we met at the border that told me that they took away $2,000 USD from him."
"I've been driving the road, man, about twenty-odd years, you know?"
Jules Vasquez
"And that is the first time something like that ever happened?"
Ram Burgos, Car Dealer
"This is the first time I have ever been scared driving the Mexican road. I've heard about people jacking other people, you know, but this was the first time, I ever got that scared. I felt like my life was in danger. It's your bread and butter, you know. It's scary. Gives you something to think about."
To the knowledge of those car dealers we spoke to, no Belizean car dealer has ever been killed transitting through Mexico. There are a few who have died in road traffic accidents, but none have met their demise through violence.
As for Mariano – who has been a car dealer for the last 10 years, he says to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again, he will get a Mexican phone so his family can keep in touch with him. He says he first became aware of the reports when he reached the Mexican side of the border and even authorities there had been advised to be on the lookout for him.
So again to stress, nothing happened. No one was hurt in any way. All four persons: Kurt and Aricia Mariano, their cousin Martin Rodriguez and car dealer Wilfred Burgess are safe and accounted for in Belize.
Email
Print