Tonight, there is deep worry about the wellbeing of PC Bernard Ical - who has been missing in the jungles of the Toledo district since Wednesday morning.
Ical was part of a joint police and BDF patrol which was called in from Machaquila near Belize's southwestern border with Guatemala on Tuesday - due to the hurricane threat. They were to make the 12 hour trek through the dense jungles of the Columbia Forest to San Jose, Hawaii - which is the changeover location.
But Ical went ahead of the BDF soldiers at 10:00 am on Wednesday and they never saw him again. He was not reported missing by the BDF patrol commander until the following morning, Thursday at 8:00 am.
Now, an all-out search to find him as he has been missing for more than 48 hours - in an area of dense bush and active outlaw activity coming from the other side of the border. This evening via phone, the commissioner of police told us more:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"As a department and as a ministry we are all extremely concerned as a result of the disappearance of PC Ical. PC Ical was at the Machaquila outpost which is a combined BDF/Police patrol and due to the threat of Hurricane Nana the patrol was recalled from the Machaquila area so as to have the officers seek adequate shelter. According to the BDF personnel who were on that patrol, they are saying that having received the instruction to leave the outpost they did the preparation and after having done the preparation for leaving they realize that PC Ical was nowhere to be found. They suspected that he may have left the outpost and that they would have caught up with him along the way, but when they arrived at the San Jose area which they would normally do the changeover they still had no sight of him. They waited a few hours and again no sight of him and that was when they decided to report to their base of his disappearance. From a law enforcement standpoint we do have some issues in terms of how this may have occurred, but those issues will be address by the BDF internally as it is a BDF patrol."
"This morning a team of SPU personnel and BDF soldiers were deployed to the area to do search and rescue operations. The BDF defender was also sent into the area to do the aerial reconnaissance with a view to see if they will have any sight of him. The BDF has also contacted their counterparts in Guatemala just in the event that PC Ical may have wondered off into Guatemala territory and they may come across him. There is a lot that we are doing right now and we are not going to stop until we can find PC Ical. The good news is that he have with him 2 weeks supply of ration, so we are hoping that it is that he is lost that he will be able to sustain himself until he is found which we are hoping will not be too long."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Will you all be hiring Astrum Helicopters maybe to make a more intensive on the ground search? The jungle there is so very dense."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Of course we discuss that this morning myself and the CEO of Defence Mr. Enriquez and Astrum Helicopters is on standby, but due to the weather conditions they have not been able to deploy. We are hoping that if the weather clears up then we will be able to also use the services of Astrum Helicopter."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Sir, do you feel that if the department had received the information in a more timely manner that it could have responded more effectively?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Well of course, the quicker you get an information the better you would be to act on the information. We do understand the length of time it takes to get from Machiquila outpost to San Jose. It's at least about 12 hours constant walking, so it is no short distance. So we understand the length of time it would take and that could be the reason for the delay in the information coming to us."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Were all protocols and best practices followed on? The patrol you all have, so many of these patrols for so many years, I would have to imagine some team protocol has been worked out where officers from the BDF and the police can keep an eye on each other."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Well the fact that the police officer is missing, I think would be a clear indication that all the proper protocols and procedures were not followed."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Okay but you'd believe at this time that PC Ical is alive and your suspicion is that he is just lost."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Well there are many possibilities, but at the end of the day I want to remain optimistic and hope for the best."
PC Ical is a part of the Special Patrol Unit from San Roman Village, Stann Creek. He texted his wife on Tuesday, at about 4:00 a.m., saying that he was leaving to conduct foot patrol in the Machaquila area along with some other personnel.
