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Cervantes Sr. Died From Blunt Force To Head
posted (July 7, 2014)
Dr. Mario Estradabran certified that Ramon Cervantes Sr. died from blunt force trauma to the head - meaning someone either clubbed him or bashed him - and his killer or killers then disposed of his body in that shallow grave. The medical examiner determined that his time of death was sometime Wednesday evening - which would be around the time when the story of his disappearance first made the evening news.

Cervantes had to be buried immediately after the autopsy was conducted, and that's where Daniel Ortiz picks up the story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
From the scene, police and family escorted the body straight to the burial site for an emergency funeral. It was in too much of an advanced state of decomposition.

But impromptu or not, hundreds of residents from Orange Walk Town and neighboring villages came out in numbers to pay respect to the well-known former mayor, senator and business man.

That show of support was once again on display today when another crowd gathered in front of the police station. They'd gotten word that police had laid charges against Cervantes's accused killers.

Kevin Bernard - Mayor, Orange Walk Town
"I am out here to support our residents, to support the family of the Mr. Ramon Cervantes and I too demand justice of this heinous crime that has been committed on a brother, on a friend, a community leader, someone who served this town, someone who served this country as Senator, a teacher who has molded a lot students and a lot of us who have attended La Immaculada School would know that Mr. Ramon Cervantes was a very good person, was a very humble individual and what has happened to him is so sad. It is totally tearing this community apart. But now we have seen where people are uniting for a purpose, uniting in the sense that we need to bring real justice to the people that has created this crime."

All around the police station, the concerned stood and waited for hours, blocking traffic and taking over the streets in front of the Court House. The members of the public were angry and outraged because the perception was that police was dragging their feet to charge suspects. That gave the officers trying to move them off the road, a bit of difficulty

But when the Orange Walk top Brass briefed the media, they couldn't release details about the case.

FILE: June 2, 2014
Ramon Miguel Cervantes - Son of the Deceased
"I think it's a kidnapping. That's why we didn't give any report to the media yesterday, because we were with the police who was interviewing us. Since, he said that he would be back by night, we gave it a chance. Frankly, it's a kidnapping."

Reporter
"As it relates to possible charges, what are you looking at? Would kidnapping be in those charges?"

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette - OC, Northern Police Region
"I would say that that would be left for the DPP to decide what charges would be preferred, if any would be preferred, that would be left to the DPP to decide that."

Reporter
"They are being detained and should be charged today, can you disclose their names?"

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"I would not do that because I am saying that the evidence that we have gathered so far was submitted to the DPP and it is based on her directive whether or not any charges would be preferred against anyone. It is not dependent on us to decide who will be charged especially as it relates to an indictable matter."

Reporter
"Can you tell us about that ransom that was ask to the family on Wednesday morning?"

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"I have no information in regards to your answer."

Reporter
"Sir, are you saying no ransom was sought?"

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"That was not part of our investigation, but that was not told to us."

Mike Rudon, Ch5
"There was a communication between the abductors and the family though on Wednesday, actually the head of the NCIB confirm us yesterday. Would you be able to give us any information on that?"

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"I was not brief in that regard, so certainly I will have to consult with him."

Reporter
"The police's investigation and perhaps a different manner in which investigations are carried out as it relates to a missing person and someone who has been abducted or kidnapped. All throughout this case you've been calling it a missing person case when the family and so many people out there were considering it an abduction/kidnapping."

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"From a policing standpoint of an investigation if a person goes missing from a location, how do you arrive at a kidnapping because a person is missing?"

Reporter
"But seeing how the police responded to this missing person case is not something that we see normal when somebody goes missing. The operations that was put out there by the police, checkpoints and searches is not something that we see common."

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"What I can say in relation to that is that we knew for a fact that the deceased have left to have gone to his farm. In other words there was a last location where he has left to have gone. The police visit to the farm had also shown that his vehicle was at the farm. There are several missing person cases where there are leads from the get-go."

Police say that for now however they've done all that was possible.

Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvette
"All I can say is that we were out there doing our utmost best from the beginning and we did not leave any stone unturned. We followed every lead that was given to us and as a result of that, that is how we were able to recover the body of Mr. Cervantes."

If the medical examiner's time of death is correct, it would also mean that he was killed about 24 hours after he was taken from his farm, and so since Wednesday, without knowing it, police have been looking for a body.

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