Yesterday we told you about a salesman found murdered on the side of the George Price Highway at midday. The body was later identified as 47-year-old Michael Escalante, a resident of Orange Walk Town. We also found out that Escalante was a well-known, and well-loved salesman whose death has left both his hometown and the Cayo District in shock. Courtney Menzies spoke to a friend who may have been one of the last persons to see him alive.
47-year-old Michael Escalante spent the better part of his life as a husband, a father, and a salesman. His job allowed him to travel, and he made friends from various parts of the country. Now his friends and family are grappling with the death of the well-loved man.
Escalante's body was found here, near mile 33 on the George Price Highway, the door handle to his red Wingle close by. It is the same truck he used when he left his home in Orange Walk Town on Monday. He was expected to return on Wednesday, but when his wife received an unexpected call from him just before midday, she was alarmed to hear not her husband, the voices of creole men saying, "We done deh ina yuh area dah Mahogany Heights."
Not long after that, a tour guide in a van stopped and discovered his body with a single gunshot wound behind his left ear. Escalante was shot inside his car and the killers flung him out the door, leaving him to die on the side of the highway.
The killers stole his vehicle one like this the same vehicle he had been driving in Cayo that very same morning. His close friend, Marco Escalera, was probably one of the last persons to see him alive. They ate breakfast together in the market at 8am. Escalera never imagined that would be the last time.
Marco Escalera - Close Friend of Deceased "I've known Mr Escalante for more than 25 years as a salesman and he was coming to Cayo like almost every week or almost two weeks and I saw him yesterday as I was passing Mike's and I went there and we had breakfast, never thought it would be the last time I would see him, he was a genuine friend, he was like a brother to me. This really hit us hard here in Cayo."
Jules Vasquez "What was his mood like yesterday morning?"
Marco Escalera "As always, happy to see his friends and talk to them and he was in good spirits yesterday."
Escalera even recalled the last conversation they had together.
Marco Escalera "I'm still in shock right now, the last thing I could remember yesterday he said, I feel like lef this piece ah cheese. I tell ah, why you feel like lef it? If you feel like lef it and you no want it, lef it, but you pay fi it, eat it. The man say, no true bwai? And he eat the lee piece of cheese, and I neva think it mih wah be the last time."
And though he was originally from the north, Escalera said the victim had no problems making friends in the west because of his easy-going personality:
Marco Escalera "He was genuine, Jules. Mike was a person if you ask him for something and if you needed help, he was always there to help. But I honestly believe, whoever did this to Mike, he saw them and he knew them that's why they killed him. It's sad to say when something happen to you, it's usually the closest people that you think are your friends. It's always somebody you know and it's very sad. I wish and hope that God find these guys and let us get some closure and some justice for what they did to him."
A coworker from German Vega and Sons Limited, where Escalante worked for many years, described the victim as a humble man with a welcoming family. He questioned why someone would want to hurt a man with such a big heart.
It's a question even police are asking since reports say he was carrying little money. Escalera told us that he was only in Cayo to take orders so he would not have been in possession of a large sum. And while they likely didn't get much cash, what they took was more valuable than any sum.
The Woingle's door handle was found with fingerprints on it. An expended shell was also found on the scene.
Police reports say that eyewitnesses saw the red Wingle along with a grey SUV with San Ignacio plates parked on the side of the highway sometime between 11:30am and 12pm. Reportedly, two male persons were seen getting into the Wingle and then both vehicles made a U turn and headed in the direction of Belmopan.
