It has now been 11 full days since 7 well-known Belize City men went missing at sea - and tonight the news is that the search for the men is just about over. That is because while the body of Magistrate Richard Swift was found on Saturday, ince then there has been no sign of the remaining six. It's been 11 days of intense search efforts by the Coast Guard, BDF, and civilians. Today the Coast Guard's Commandant General Cedric Borland confirmed that search efforts have been significantly scaled down. Borland told us that the Coast Guard will continue regular patrols in the area, in the hope of finding the men. And in line with the Coast Guard's decision - the Belize Defense Force's Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Reuel Black says there search efforts have also been scaled down.
Brig. Gen. Cedric Borland, Commandant - Coast Guard
"I met with the families yesterday evening and we are looking now at where we will go from here. Of course they want to see the search continue. As I mentioned to them on a regular basis we have a minimum of three vessels patrolling our waters. These vessels will also have a mission to look for any evidence that would remain from this incident that occurred and as well we discussed
on looking at a final effort, with all the resources to go again and look for these missing people."
Keith Swift,
As it stands right now, are today Thursday are your men out there searching specifically for those men?
Brig. Gen. Cedric Borland,
"Well we have three vessels out there at this time and those three vessel are looking for evidence from this case but also looking for other illegal activities that are occurring in our waters."
Keith Swift,
So officially the search and rescue has winded down?
Brig. Gen. Cedric Borland,
"We have scaled down a bit I must say."
Lt. Col. Reuel Black,
"Well at present we continue to support he coast guard right now because it is a recovery effort now, not a search and rescue. We will continue to support them and as you heard earlier, Admiral Borland say they are scaling down. And as much as they scale down, we have to scale down as well in the support role that we are doing. We are now longer checking islands. We are checking the open waters which means we have to be on board their vessel. And of course we cannot far too longer than this and we are in a support role."
As General Borland mentioned, on Saturday they are planning a massive search and recovery effort, which will involve the resources from the families, BDF, and the police. The family members we spoke to today had nothing but thanks for the search efforts conducted by the Coast Guard. Spokeswoman for the families Audrey Matura-Shepherd says that after Saturday's search, the families will come to terms with reality.
The men still unaccounted for are 48-year-old Darrington Escobar, 50-year-old Mauro Ismael Quiroz, his son, 31-year-old Abner Quiroz, 53-year-old Nick Egbert Nicholson, 42-year-old Gustavo Briceno, and 25-year-old Elon Reyes.
