7 News Belize

The Search for Kelvin Is Getting Desperate
posted (September 26, 2017)
Yesterday we told about 17-year-old Kelvin Usher who was reported missing on Sunday evening. He ran off on Sunday when the GSU arrested his father Cameron "Ras Ruben" Usher for marijuana cultivation in Lucky Strike Village.

But the case is not exactly straightforward - there are reports that the GSU fired on Kelvin Usher and others who Feld form the plantation. And that is why today there was a sense of urgency and alarm when a homegrown search party went to Lucky Strike on the old Northern Highway to try and find him. 7News was there and Sahar Vasquez reports:

Sahar Vasquez reporting
Today, day three of the search for young Kelvin Usher continued. It was an army of people ranging from family members close and distant, to concerned classmates who took the day off from school to help in the search. Even villagers of Lucky Strike came out to assist in navigating the bush. And the police K-9 unit also came in.

Usher's mom and uncle were one of the many people who stood strong in organizing the search teams and more importantly keeping the faith that Kelvin is alive.

Karima Williams, Mother
"We found his hat yesterday when it was clear, because when we first started to search it was in the night, so we couldn't really find much. We just basically chopping through and hollering for him. We have a lot of villagers along with BDF military men that knows the area, knows the compass. So we are having several groups of people. We are doing the whole road from where to King's College all the way down to the Altun Ha area."

Keron Rose, Uncle
"We have faith that he is alive and that he is well. That's why we are out here. Maybe he is lost in the jungle and we are here to send a signal, so he can see us or hear us and put an ease to all the family sadness that we have right now, but as I said we have hope that we will find him."

After hours of waiting, we were finally taken on a short trek to the actual weed plantation that the GSU discovered on Sunday. A gathering of supporters stood on the plantation, reflecting, and recharging. They had spent the whole morning searching the perimeter but they had no luck. His sister shared her grave concerns about the police handling of the case:

Voice of: Leniqua Usher, Sister
"When I heard my father got arrested, the first person my mind went on was my brother, because my father wouldn't be in the bush by himself. So this is a puzzling situation and up until the night when they found out that my brother didn't showed up, was then the search started, because we can't left him out here by himself. And from there it just went downhill when we didn't find him. I couldn't sleep. This is like the worst experience. I wish this on one, honestly."

"He called me to meet me and he gave me his phone, so he ask me again ' you find your brother?' and he was like you know we are still searching, we can't search in the night because it's very dark and he was like 'he ran when he see us man, he ran when he heard those shots.' So I was like in my mind but you tell me that you weren't on this search, so how you are telling me now that he ran when he saw you. It not adding up and you all are here to see this bush, this perimeter. You see how many of us are here to search high and low. He could never be here. He had to gone, they had to take him, because he would have run and at least fell from dehydration already and we find his body at least. But none of that. We haven't found anything, nothing, it's not adding up."

The police report stated that Usher's Ras Ruben was found in the middle of the plantation - but he told friends that's inaccurate. The police report also does not discuss shots being fired - when Ras Ruben has said over a dozen were fired. We saw this barrel with two bullet holes.

Benjamin Black (Black Berry) - Belizean Artist/Family Friend
"I personally figure if it were a case when somebody who actually got lost, they could have found their way back out easily. This is not a kind of bush to get lost in. It makes you feel a kind of way that the people who you are expecting to look out for you, you have double thoughts about and that is not supposed to be happening. My whole thing is that Belize is small. Everybody know everyone. If it was my son, I would want like a quarter of Belize be out here. I would wait on the whole BDF to come. It's sad because we don't see any of that. A minor missing and like nothing is not happening. I would have expected to see a chopper from yesterday combing the whole place with infrared beams, but none of that is happening."

Nello Player, Belizean Artist/Family Friend
"I think it's just a time that nobody didn't want. It is not something that we would want bring us together out here, but as such that we are out here. Kelvin is my youth. The way how the story reported I can't get off of it, never once they mentioned that somebody else was with Mr. Cameron Usher and they say they found him in the middle of the field. The man wasn't on any field. They found him outside of the boundaries of the field and most importantly about 15 shots were fired. Not one mention of a shot was mentioned on the news. So again, another red flag. I don't know what they are into. I don't know if it's the police or whoever, but all of it even started off because of marijuana, because of weed and I want you see the size of the plant on the field. It's not anything to talk about and for that these men (police) comes out here shooting at civilians. More than anything else we are out here to find the youth. Our hope is to still find him safe and sound and bring him back to us, to his family, to everybody."

When the search party left, the police canine unit and the immediate family went back into the area.

Yesterday, the media did ask the police press officer about the report that shots were fired during the arrest, but we still have not gotten a response.

Up to news time, Usher still hadn't been found and the search continues tomorrow. If you know anything that can help the family, you can contact 630-0611 or 600-8541.

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