7 News Belize

Ramon Cervantes Sr. Was Murdered, But Why?
posted (July 7, 2014)
Ramon Cervantes Sr. was abducted and killed - the 71 year old former Orange Walk Town mayor, PUP Senator, three time political candidate, prominent businessman and father of 4 was found late on Saturday night in an abandoned area off Honey Camp Road.

After 100 hours of anxious worry and not knowing, the worst fears of his family, friends and the wider Orange Walk community were confirmed when the news went out in waves on Saturday night.

He becomes the first business person in recent memory to be abducted and killed - and the fact that he is a prominent person in his community - makes it a worrying and saddening event of national importance.

There are so many questions that arise - and so many rumors abounding, but tonight - we'll try to give you a coherent understanding of the underworld forces that plotted the senior citizen's undoing. We start on Sunday on Honey Camp Lagoon road just outside Orange Walk Town - where the body was discovered:..

Jules Vasquez reporting
A deserted area off Honey camp road is where police were led to - reportedly - by someone who'd participated in the abduction of Ramon Cervantes Sr.

As cane trucks trundled past - the media - out in full force - was kept on the side of the road - hundreds of yards from where Cervantes's body was found buried in a shallow grave.

This was no regular crime scene - BDF secured the area tightly - and kept replenishing soldiers, while we counted no fewer than 6 police vehicles steadily going in and out of the abandoned farm - three and a half miles down the Honey camp road and about five miles from Orange Walk - all told about 15 miles from his San Roman farm.

This was the one was waiting for at 11:40 am, the Prado with forensic Dr. Mario Estradabran - to do an on-site post mortem.

Two hours later police came out and confirmed the identity:

Mike Rudon, Ch5
"Can you confirm now that it is indeed Mr. Ramon Cervantes Sr.?"

ACP Russell Blackett - OC, National Criminal Investigations Branch
"Yes it has been confirmed. It is him. It's a very gruesome and cruel death. I guess the body has been in a very shallow grave about 3 days and it's a bit decomposed."

That's why the coffin had to brought right to the scene in this pickup, as well as this other pickup with chemicals to wash the body and plastic.

Three hours after he arrived Estradabran rolled out - his work finished.

And fifty minutes later, the truck with the coffin, taking the slow drive up this remote road that Ramón Cervantes would probably never travel:

ACP Russell Blackett
"This is remote abandoned area. We hit on a number intelligence leads and finally yesterday evening we got a lead that brought us to this location. Many motives could be there. He could have been robbed probably by someone who he knew."

Mike Rudon, Ch5
"Sir, can you confirm to us if the family did in deed received any requests for ransom or any communication at all from those who allegedly abducted Mr. Cervantes?"

ACP Russell Blackett
"There was some communication, but when it comes to the ransom part I cannot say clearly that that was so."

And while the central question has been answered - we left on Sunday with so many more hanging: principally how did Cervantes's body end up here dead?

ACP Russell Blackett
"It does concern us. It concern the people of Orange Walk and it's very appalling. We leave no stone unturned and everybody involved will be dealt with."

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