A fisherman is missing and his family is asking the public for help. 33-year-old Ronald Palma was last seen on Thursday on Bread and Butter Caye, near Hopkins Village, where he went to find work. However, reports say he became increasingly upset when his diving and fishing equipment was being used without his permission. He left the island, and was never seen again. His family has travelled to Hopkins and will remain there until they can find him.
Police received information of a body near Saddle Caye in the south, but have yet to locate it. Coast Guard and Police officers have been on the search since Saturday, but were called back in to prepare for Hurricane Iota. Superintendent Alejandro Cowo told us what the police know so far.
Superintendent Alejandro Cowo, Head, CIB Belize City
"We know that the wife visited the station yesterday and she mentioned that Mr Palma, she last heard from him on Thursday when she made a call to him and he told her certain things. Based on that she had try to call him on several other occasions and she did not get any response so she visited the station yesterday and made a report. Police from Belize City contacted Hopkins police who began to work in regards to this investigation but so far we have not heard anything else from Mr Palma or his whereabouts."
"I know that he went to Hopkins and there he met another friend that he was going to work with and they went to the island that everyone is calling, that he was last seen, Bread and Butter, that was the last time, according to the wife, that she heard from him. All we know is that they said that there was some misunderstanding on the island and that he had paddled from the island to Hopkins and that was the last time somebody saw him or heard from him."
Palma has three kids and is the breadwinner of his family.
Guatemalan Found Dead Hunting Caye
And while the search is still on for Palma, the body of another man was found last week Tuesday near Hunting Caye. The body was found by fishermen who reported it to the Belize Coast Guard. The Coast Guard retrieved the body and handed it over to the police department. Today, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Myvett, told us that the body has been identified as Guatemalan national, Francisco Salam.
ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, NCIB
"Upon inspection of the body, an identification in that name was found on his person and that was later followed up by family members who did come across from Guatemala. A postmortem was later conducted on that body but due to its bloating stage, the cause of death was undetermined."
Reporter
"Is police in any way collaborating with its counterparts in Guatemala to see if maybe foul play may have been at play here?"
ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, NCIB
"We have been in contact with the Guatemalan Consulate as well as our law enforcement counterparts access there but from the observations, there were no signs of physical injury on the body."
The body has reportedly been returned to the family in Guatemala.
A Nurse's COVID Chronicles
She called it a Nurse's COVID Chronicles, a Facebook post detailing Nurse Renita Pop's first experience working and caring for patients in the Western Regional Hospital's Covid Unit.
Pop's post was heart-wrenching, detailing the discomfort of working in a hazmat suit, something she calls HELL, the fear and anxiety around whether she was wearing the suit correctly or risking endangering her own family, and finally the heartbreak of watching her patient suffer through taking their last breaths.
Tonight she told us VIA ZOOM about the patient she lost, a woman who left a lasting imprint on her memory.
According to nurse Pop, a Covid death is unique in its loneliness and in the final part of her viral post she says quote I don't ever want to see a black plastic bag again. It reminds me of a body bag, the bag your body goes into before your family can even have a chance to see you one final time. " End quote.
Life Without a Portfolio For a Pol
For tonight's newscast, we've shown you interviews with the new PUP ministers about the transition to take over from the Barrow administration as the new government. Prime Minister John Briceno's Cabinet is a very full house - 25 men and women crowded around the big table.
But with the executive cake cut into so many thin slices, several of the elected Area Reps got cut out of the cabinet cake - and they'll be lucky to pick up a few crumbs, or maybe even lick the cake knife!
At today's swearing-in, we got a chance to speak with a first-time parliamentarian who was selected to be a minister and another who wasn't. Here's our conversation with them about haves and have-nots within the new PUP government:
The first-time area reps who were selected to be ministers include former Mayor Kevin Bernard, Michel Chebat, Anthony Mahler, and Andre Perez. The first-time area reps who were selected to be ministers of state include Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Oscar Mira, Gilroy Usher, and Ramon "Monchi" Cervantez.
What Of Trump's Ambassadorial Nominee?
Back in July - before he lost the election, US President Donald Trump, nominated Andre Bauer as a new US ambassador to Belize.
Now, Belize has not had an US ambassador since Carlos Moreno whose term ended with the Obama Administration in 2016.
Since then, two Charges d' Affairs have served as the senior diplomat running the mission in the absence of an ambassador.
On Friday in Corozal, we were able to get his comments on what will happen with Ambassador-nominate Bauer now that the Trump Administration is coming to an end:
