Cayo Police believe smoke inhalation from a pot of burnt beans smothered and killed a woman in San Ignacio last night. Around 8 last night, fire fighters and police officers responded to reports of a fire on Melhado Road in San Ignacio Town.
When they arrived at the house smoke was seen streaming from the kitchen area. Inside the kitchen fire fighters found a badly burnt pot of beans on the stove. The small blaze was extinguished and a search of other areas in the house let to the discovery of 35 year old Cheryl Nadine Pastor's body in the kitchen. She was partially nude.
Police believe she was overwhelmed by the smoke and ran into the bathroom. There were no visible signs of violence on her body but a post mortem was scheduled for today to determine her cause of death.
Pastor was the common-law wife of Police Constable Mark Arzu. He was on duty at Caracol at the time of the fire.
