We begin our newscast with the vicious murder of a man who was thrown out of his own vehicle and left on the side of the George Price Highway in the broad daylight of early afternoon.
Orange Walk Salesman Michael Escalante was the victim of a robbery turned murder as his vehicle was stolen and he was thrown out of it. Police are now looking for the vehicle which the killer may still be driving. Courtney Menzies has this story.
A murder in the middle of the day has left the family of 47-year-old Michael Escalante in a state of shock. His body was found around midday, between miles 33 and 34 on the George Price Highway, in the Mahogany Heights area. The body bore gunshot wounds and reports are that he was shot inside of his red Wingle Pickup truck and then thrown out the vehicle. He was left for dead on the side of the highway.
Police have reportedly launched a hunt for the pickup truck.
Escalante has escaped death on this highway before, back in 2007 when he was involved in a massive bus collision that took the lives of six people and injured 18 more. Police later ruled that he was responsible for causing the accident. That time he life in an ambulance
Today he left in a body bag, in the back of a police pickup -
And end that may have been foretold when Escalante was robbed last year, just before Christmas, in the parking lot of Farmers Trading Center in Spanish Lookout. Three armed robbers stole his red Wingle with $18,000 inside, along with his pistol.
Police recovered the vehicle and that incident had led him to carry mostly checks now. But that didn't stop very daring robbers from targeting him again - in the most ruthless way.
Escalante was a long0time employee of Vega Imports where he was well loved. More on this story tomorrow.
