We begin tonight with news that has shaken all those close to Cecil Tillett, otherwise known as "Mini Man." Tillett's partially dismembered and decomposing body was found floating in the sea near an island about ten miles south of Belize City. His left leg was missing. Tillett had been taken out to the island last week by his employer, Stanley Lambey, to work as a security guard. While his cause of death is unknown, police do not suspect foul play at this time.
"Mini man" made many friends throughout his time working at both Bowen and Bowen as a messenger and the National Fire Service as a firefighter. Even in his community of St Martin's, he was well known.
Today, we spoke to his friend Myrria Phillips via telephone and she explained that she and Tillett had quickly gone from co-workers at Bowen and Bowen to good friends, even though they lived in different countries:
Voice of: Myrria Phillips, Friend of Deceased
"He was a very trustworthy guy, very honest, always willing - he was always happy and smiling and so willing. Anything anybody ask him to do he would walk, whatever, but he does it for anyone without a question and he was harmless. He was such a harmless humble very nice person. He became friends with all of us at Bowen and Bowen, he became like our brother there and even when I stopped working at Bowen and I came to live in the US, whenever I go to Belize I go to look for him at the fire station and find him and he would still go and check at my mom's house and ask how I was doing even though he knew I was living over there. So I saw him every visit to Belize. I go and find him just to make sure he was okay. So we remained friends for at least 35 years."
Reporter
"Tell us your reaction when you heard the sad news."
Voice of: Myrria Phillips, Friend of Deceased
"Oh my gosh! I didn't even finish read it and I just start crying so much. I'm still crying to be honest, because he was a harmless guy. I trusted him with my daughters, he was harmless. he wouldn't hurt a fly. That's mini man. So when I just saw that they found his decomposed or partially decomposed body I called my brothers, because he is friends with my brothers, friends with everyone - everybody in Belize knows mini man and I've been upset since then because we might never find out what happened to him."
And back in 2012, Tillett had lost his only brother, Edmond White. White was reportedly knocked down and killed by a drunk driver, and our reporter had interviewed Tillett, who had tears in his eyes as he spoke about his brother. Here is a snippet of that interview:
Cecil Tillett - Brother of Deceased
"I am shaking right now and I don't know how I am going to feel when I go to witness the post-mortem - if I will faint because I am still shaking."
Monica Bodden
"He is your only brother?"
Cecil Tillett - Brother of Deceased
"Yes, it's just two of us."
Monica Bodden
"You are close to your brother?"
Cecil Tillett - Brother of Deceased
"Yes very close."
Monica Bodden
"You want justice for what happened?"
Cecil Tillett - Brother of Deceased
"Yeah, I would."
Monica Bodden
"How would you describe your brother to us? I know so many people who actually know him because he is always a fun loving person."
Cecil Tillett - Brother of Deceased
"He is a well-known person - always on the bus messing around with people on the bus and sometimes if he is not there he is at Travellers Bar."
Tillett had stopped working as a firefighter in the last two years.
