Yesterday, we took you to the Crooked Tree area for the bizarre crime that was committed against Geoffrey Crawford, a Belizean retiree in his 60s.
The elderly gentleman was assaulted by 2 men, who used his personal vehicle to escape with his body.
An area resident was tricked into helping his assailants escape because his vehicle needed a jump-start before they could drive off. Fortunately, that resident spotted a severely injured Crawford on his backseat, and he and his relatives called the cops.
That leads us to…this afternoon, when a shallow grave was discovered deep inside a private property located at mile 29 on the Philip Goldson Highway, and our news team was the only one on the scene this afternoon.
Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Police have yet to officially confirm, but all indications are that they have discovered the body of a man believed to be
Geoffrey Crawford, the senior citizen who disappeared under suspicious circumstances from his home in the Crooked Tree Area yesterday morning.
At around midday today, police found this shallow grave in a remote, jungle area located some 3 miles off the Philip Goldson Highway in Biscayne Village.
When we arrived, Scenes Of Crime Personnel had only just finished their meticulous process of evidence gathering.
About half-hour later, we saw police escorting this red Nissan Pathfinder SUV, which had the same license plates as the missing vehicle they identified as Crawford's.
Today's discovery was a rapid and major break in this case. But, all this progress would have been crippled significantly, had it not been for the brave resident who reported what he saw when he unknowingly helped Crawford's assailants escape from his home where they had assaulted and subdued him.
Voice of: Resident
"I opened her van, took out the battery, and I went to give the young man a jump. So, the hood was already up for his car, over there, but I know the car, and I know who the car belongs to. It is for that man who lives right over that house there, behind us there, Mr. Geoffrey. I do work for that man. I do mechanic for that man. So now - I don't know this man's relatives or this man's family. So, it wasn't puzzling me until when they started the vehicle and almost knocked me down. As the started, they put it into reverse, and flew out, and left. When I jumped this way, that's when I saw the person in the backseat, a dark-complexioned man in the backseat, when I flinched backwards. I was moving so that they didn't run over my foot. It was Mr. Geoffrey, because I know the guy. Over 5 years, I know the guy. I saw 2 injuries on his face, and blood on his white shirt, and a short blue pants that he had on. He was lying down at the back. Mr. Jeff looked like he was dead. People look motionless, and they are still breathing, so, we don't know if he was dead or not."
Yesterday, Crawford's daughter was already bracing for a tragic outcome.
Voice of: Daughter of Geoffrey Crawford
"This morning, wah young lady come and tell me that my father dead, they broke in his house, beat him, kick him down the step, take him to his vehicle, police stop the vehicle they say that they the take the man to hospital that's what the 2 young man said. We don't know where they carry him, we check hospital, body is not in the hospital, we can't find the body so we don't know more or less which part they have him, so I can't say if he dead or alive but we would really want if anybody know, contact we and tell we because we miss ah. He is not somebody that mes with people, he have a lot of friends, he's a loving person, me he usually come to every weekend he come down to me, so now I feel it, it's hard."
Reporter "Are you hoping that your father is still living ma'am?"
Voice of: Daughter of Geoffrey Crawford "More or less I can't say because the beating that he get we don't know if he is alive or what, the person who soever do it, they no have no heart because that's an age-able man they do that to, he no fool around, he just loving, have friends and I know my pa, my pa loving, so I don't know why they do that to he."
This evening, we spoke via telephone with one of Crawford's relatives, and she told us that investigators have since confirmed to the family that the body discovered at this shallow gravesite was Geoffrey Crawford. We'll follow up with the police on where the investigation is expected to go next.
