An American man was found dead this morning in the Port Loyola Area. 54 year old Arizona native Robert Maurice Jones was found dead beside a drain on Louise Bevans street which runs just behind Central American Boulevard. The American had been residing in the neighbourhood for some months and was well known by residents; he had also started living with a woman from the area. But she reported him missing on Sunday after he went out on Saturday and did not return.
This morning police received information that he was dead in a drain on Louise Bevans Street and they responded and found the decomposed body. While everyone on the scene was convinced that the man they knew as “Mr. Roberts” had been killed – police this evening told us that foul play is not suspected. A post mortem was inconclusive – but there were no signs of foul play or robbery. Police believe he died of natural causes.
We spoke to area resident and friend Margaret Vasquez when the body was found and she told us what she knew of this American traveller in Port Loyola.
Margaret Vasquez, Friend of the Deceased
“He is from the United States, they came down here and his wife and they got into problem with the law and he stayed here and since Saturday he was out there with his common law wife and she said that well she missed him; the Sunday he didn’t come home, the Monday were looking into it, she went and reported it and until this morning the police they came and they saw the man, they found him down there.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So but when they found him, did you know that it was him?”
Margaret Vasquez,
“I saw his feet yes because the police said it is a body and I rushed out and run to look and when I saw the white foot, I said oh my God it is Mr. Roberts.”
Jules Vasquez,
“He lived around here?”
Margaret Vasquez,
“Yes sir right around here he lived with my sister. I smelt the smell but you know dead dogs and things are around the place so I didn’t pay it no mind but when the police came and said a body was down there, I ran out from the kitchen and I saw the feet and then saw that it was white and then it was oh it was Mr. Roberts.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Now as far as you know what kind of man was he, was he a man into trouble? Why would someone kill him?”
Margaret Vasquez,
“I wouldn’t know. I swear to God Mr. Roberts is a very nice man. You ask him for anything and he gives you. If you meet him at the Chinese and he is drinking a beer he will give you a beer.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Did he have enemies in the neighbourhood?”
Margaret Vasquez,
“No, not that I know of sir.”
Jules Vasquez,
“So do you think that somebody killed him for the purpose of robbing him?”
Margaret Vasquez,
“Maybe robbery sir, maybe.”
According to our records Jones came to Belize at the end of 2008 – and he literally arrived with a bang. He was arrested and charged when the trailer home he and his wife had driven down form the United States caught on fire on New Year’s Eve, 2008 and 74 rounds of live ammunition stored inside went off – causing small explosions.
They were remanded to prison for unlicensed weapons and ammunition and Jones’s wife Tammy died shortly after. After that he started living in the area of Freedom and Louise Bevans Street and became well known in the community. Police say there were no signs that he had been robbed.
