7 News Belize

Her Mother Disappeared From Mental Health Facility, And No One Said Anything
posted (January 4, 2016)
The Christmas holidays are officially over - and all of us that could, spent it with our family.

And that's what Siera Hodgson had hoped to do. She's a 20 year old who was raised in difficult circumstances. For the first ten years of her life, she and her mother were basically locked up by her father right here in Belize City. When social services intervened, 10-year-old Siera didn't even know what the days of the week were.

Her mother, Mary was sent to the Palm Center, which is the Ministry of Health's Acute Psychiatric Care Clinic, what used to be called "Rockview." Siera was luckier - she got adopted by Shaunna Hodgson, a woman from Scotland who first put her into private school in Belize. At 14, Siera went with her new mother to live in Scotland - where she has caught up - and is doing well in her second year of college.

But, she hasn't left Belize behind, because her mother - who is the only blood relative she knows - is back in Belize - and Siera is getting her education, so she can come back, get her mom out of the Palm Center, and take care of her.

This Christmas, she came to visit - and to deliver gifts to her mom - it was to have been the centerpiece of her Christmas holiday in Belize. But when she got to the Palm Center, she found to her disbelief that her mom has gone missing - and may have been murdered - and nobody even bothered to call and tell her. It's particularly distressing since she is her mother's only blood relative. Yesterday, she told us her sad story:...

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
Siera loved spending time with her mom. She enjoyed painting her mother's nails with her favorite red nail polish, and seeing her mother smile.

But giving her mother a manicure and a pedicure were just a few of the moments they shared when she visited her mom at the Psychiatric Center in Belmopan.

Siera makes the most out of these visits because she lives in the UK and only comes to Belize once a year.

These pictures were taken from her June 2014 visit and it is these moments that Siera cherishes the most.

But when she went to visit her mom a week ago on Boxing Day, her hopes of making more treasured memories with her mom were crushed.

Siera Hodgson, "My mom is missing"
"Every year I see my mom and I was expecting to give her gifts, clothes. I was expecting to spend time with her, but when I got there with my adopted mom and a couple of friends they said she went missing and I couldn't understand what they were talking about, because she would never ran away, she would never get out the place. She's been there for 10 years."

Siera's mom, Mary Castillo - also known as Malexa - went missing a year ago, and she had no idea. The only explanation she is getting now is that Castillo ran away, but Siera doesn't believe it.

Siera Hodgson, "My mom is missing"
"They said she ran away which is a total lie, because she would never run away. They said the staff saw her around the area and when they got to her she ran away, which is a lie, because she is not a runner. She is barefoot, it's the middle of nowhere. Where would she go? In the beginning when I was my biological mom and father, we were locked up. We never went outside. We felt that inside was for safety and my father was very abusive and even then my mom never thought of running away to a different place. We've been in a terrible situation with our father and then we were taken away by the social workers and I went to the child care center and she went to the Rockview in the beginning, they transferred her to Palm Center. But she's been there 10 years. Even when we visit her, she wouldnt come out. She would want to stay in the area where she was. We would ask her to come outside, but she is not use to going outside. She doesn't know how to read or write. She doesn't know what the world is like."

So what happened to Mary Castillo? That is the question on everyone's mind.

And right now, the closest answer lies in the horrific discovery of skeletal remains last year.

Siera Hodgson, "My mom is missing"
"We went to the police and they said they've found a decomposed body 2 miles away from the Palm Center Hospital and I felt very sick. They said I have to come back and give a DNA test. They said they were trying to find me, but the hospital only said that she only has a daughter in the UK. But they have my address, they have my phone number and never contact me. All I know is that they found a decomposed body 2 miles away from there and the clothes and the missing teeth sound like my mother. But that's all I know. They say the way how the body was that she would have to be carried in. She couldn't have walked in like that. So its murder. I think its murder."

And that is what she must take back home to the UK. For now, there are no definitive answers just the grip of hopelessness, fear and uncertainty.

Siera Hodgson, "My mom is missing"
"She suffered a lot and she is not just a number, she is my mom. And I left thinking that the institute would take care of her until I get a better job and I could take her over there and give her a better life than she had in the beginning. It was always my aim and goal to give her a better life and make a better person out of myself, because I know she deserves more and I know I deserve more. Now I need to go back home and be autopilot and keep doing the same thing I've always done. But I don't know how, but I have to."

And now the only peace she has is with her adopted mother Shaunna Hodgson.

Shaunna Hodgson, Adopted Mother
"I am her mom. Malexa was Siera's number one mom and I was her number two mom. The mom who is able to look after her and make sure she got her education and Siera has work so hard to where she is. Siera don't want to come back to Belize. Siera has told my daughter back home her heart has been ripped out."

So yesterday, Siera and her adopted mom left Belize with that broken heart and with this lovely album put together for a mother who will never see it.

Siera and Shaunna went back to Scotland yesterday so she can return to School tomorrow. When we spoke with the Ministry of Health, they said that based on the report, the Palm Center only has a mailing address for Siera in the UK, and there is no telephone number on Castillo's file. But, then there's a contradiction, because the head of the mental health programs reported that they tried to reach Siera by email and phone. Siera says no one got in touch with her. Health officials said they are still investigating. As for the DNA sample, when we spoke to police today, they told us they are not sure if the sample has already been sent. But we will keep following the story.

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