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Courtney Weatherburne reporting
The Mendez family along with Teakettle villagers came out early this morning to put the finishing touches on Marky Mendez's grave. But the family can't go ahead with their burial plans because they haven't found his body as yet.

Mendez went missing on Wednesday night but the family has no hope for his safe return.

Martin Mendez, Older Brother
"I know that they done kill him already but it's just, we want to find him, all we want to is put him in the ground, you know, we don't want him to rotten out there like animal."

Police say Mendez was went missing around 10:00 Wednesday night. But before that, he was seen around in Teakettle. His mother says she last saw him in the afternoon before he left home.

Verna Mendez, Mother
"He just said he was going to fix his slippers and he pick it up and he put on a tennis and put his knapsack on his back put the slippers in and he went to the shoe man."

Courtney Weatherburne
"So that's all he said that he was going to fix his slippers and he was coming right back home?"

Verna Mendez, Mother
"Well he usually hang out a little then he goes back but..."

Courtney Weatherburne
"And this was at Wednesday at around 2:00 you mentioned?"

Verna Mendez, Mother
"Yes."

Courtney Weatherburne
"And around what time did you start to get worried and wonder why you know, isn't he back?"

Verna Mendez, Mother
"Well I begin to get worried from the night because that is not him, he would call and say I am not coming tonight or I will stay with my friends or family but that night nothing, all night he didn't come home and the next day I start to get worried."

That worry drove family and friends to form a search party on Thursday evening. The team combed the area behind the cemetery and they found their own pieces of evidence.

Alicia Reyes, Cousin
"We find bloody clothes, pants and shirt, today we found the slippers and that is the boy's slippers, everybody know it, everybody knows his clothes."

Courtney Weatherburne
"The alleged murders clothes?"

Alicia Reyes, Cousin
"Yes definitely, the alleged murderer's, the person who did it and the blocks you could see the blocks bloody up we don't know if he knock the boy we don't know what he did but we know he did something because the blocks bloody up, you find blood trail going down to the river and that is it."

The family says that they should not have been the ones to make these discoveries but they say they had to do it on their own because police did not assist them - until today."

Martin Mendez, Older Brother
"Well, to me the police is not doing their part because they came down here and they just stood up by the road side and they did not even come and search or nothing, all we want is help."

And on Saturday afternoon, enraged villagers took to the streets and started a tire fire on the road to get the police to come out and help them.

And as seen in the video - well the police along with firemen came out to calm the crowd and put out the fire.

Martin Mendez, Older Brother
"Well what happen the villagers did that because the police are not coming out."

Police say they have been doing their part in searching the area. But the murky river water has set them back significantly.

Sr. Supt. Howell Gillett, OC, Belmopan
"Ever since the report was made we have been doing our very best as you and the public know that the police department does not have professional divers so we have to enlist the support of the Belize Coast Guard and it is standard protocol that whenever there is flooded water the diver from the Belize Coast Guard are not permitted to dive for two basic reasons and those reasons are: the water has strong current and there is poor visibility and that is the reason why we did not have use of the Coast Guard until I believe it was Sunday of this week."

While the search continues for Mendez's body, the family is overcome with grief and rage. They say they know who the killer is and that he is roaming free in the village. What is even more troubling is that Mendez was hanging out with this man the night he went missing.

Alicia Reyes, Cousin
"Then the police them bring the guy they still let go the guy, they let him go and everybody know that that child was with the murderer so that is the reason why we are in so much pain, it hurts so much because we need the body, we need to bury him and we are asking the person who do it please come out and tell us where the body is."

Courtney Weatherburne
"So he was with that same guy, the accused, that same Wednesday night?"

Alicia Reyes, Cousin
"Yes that same Wednesday night, he was with the same guy, and everybody knows who the guy is."

The police also know who the alleged killer is but they are still working on gathering evidence for what they are treating as a murder case.

Sr. Supt. Howell Gillett, OC, Belmopan
"I believe we are building a case towards making an arrest if we ever encounter the individual which we believe we could locate."

Martin Mendez, Older Brother
"It is his own friend and it is not someone who was his enemy, they lured him to his death, they lured him to his death because it was someone he was hanging out with."

Courtney Weatherburne
"So you have any idea why this guy or these guys would want to kill your brother?"

Martin Mendez
"No idea, no idea. I won't say he was a saint, but he and those person did not have any kind of beef so I don't know what went wrong with them the night they were hanging out if they had an argument but all we know it's them who did it."

In terms of the bloody articles of clothes and the pair of slippers that were found, the police have collected those as evidence. The blood will also be tested to see if it is Mendez's blood. Several persons have been detained and questioned but all have been released. As you heard police know who the alleged killer is and are working on gathering information in this case. We will keep following as the search for Mendez continues.