And while Laddie's family awaits the outcome of his killer's trial, the Augustine family isn't so sure they'll even get one. 27-year-old Akeem Augustine has been missing for five agonizing weeks, but last Friday, his family finally got closure after what they believe to be his body was found in the Jane Usher area.
While police have yet to identify it for themselves, his sister in law recognized both his tattoo and the clothes he was wearing.
But though there is some relief in finding his body, the hardest part has come as this family begins to mourn.
Courtney Menzies spoke with his sister in law and has this story.
The weekend began with a disturbing discovery on Friday evening: the dismembered body of a man was found floating in the swamps of the Jane Usher area. And since he was beheaded, the police are having a difficult time identifying him.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"The body was removed from the area, it was found in a swampy area, and has been taken to the morgue. We're awaiting a postmortem examination at this time and we're trying to examine the identity of this person. Based on the post mortem, we will do further investigation through DNA to determine who this person is."
Reporter:
"Sir, I understand that this body was found, just are a torso, are the police still searching for other parts of the body, I understand the head, I think his arms-"
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"I will not go into details into what was found, what was found is at the morgue and we are awaiting a post mortem examination at this time."
But the family of 27-year-old Akeem Augustine is certain that the body belongs to him, based on a tattoo on his back.
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"I saw the tattoo and the pants that he left home in so that was the only way that I could have identified that it was him."
Courtney Menzies:
"What was the tattoo of?"
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"His name and a heart."
Augustine went missing on Christmas Day, after attending a party in the same area. Over a month later, it's the worst possible outcome for this family, who still had hope that maybe he would turn up alive. But now, they say that getting closure was the least they could have asked for.
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"We're glad that we got closure because we don't really have to hot up our heads or worry about where he is or the whereabouts, we're just happy that we got closure. The only thing that's puzzling to us is that when we were searching for him, the same area that they found the body, we were already there searching for him so it's just kind of odd that they found the body in that same exact area that we searched before."
Courtney Menzies:
"Do you know if he was in some type of trouble that someone would want to kill him in such a vicious way?"
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"Well, yes because he's a person whereby he's very ignorant and everybody would want to target him because of the area he comes from and he's well known to a lot of people and everybody look at him as this trouble person but everybody has a second chance to life, everybody have a time to turn their life around, he recently had a son, the baby will be 1 in March and to make the baby grow up without a father and to make this situation happen, it's just hard, it's really hard and he went in an area that he didn't belong, he friended the people that he shouldn't have trusted but I really don't know what else to say about the situation."
Now as they begin the grieving process, Castro says she will miss the way Augustine could have sweetened up any sour mood.
But when it comes to justice, they don't have much hope of getting that.
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"He's a loving person, he likes to clown us, we always quarrel, nothing new, and the next moment he will come and sweet us up. He likes to tell anybody what comes to his mouth and he likes to dance, he was really loving and caring to everybody, he was really hands out, he could give you his last, no matter if you did him something today, you could do something now to him and he get vex, by tonight he has already sweetened you up and making you laugh and bring joy to you. He was trying to change his life, like a year ago he came out of jail and he was trying because he had gotten a job and all he told me he wanted was to be there for his son and his girlfriend, which is my little sister."
Courtney Menzies:
"Does the family believe that you guys will get justice?"
Voice of: Niricia Castro, Sister In Law
"No, because one, the system just weird, that's to everybody. If he was a police officer, then, but he's not and he's well known to the police so obviously this dead right there. You won't hear anything come out of this, nothing really will come out of this, and that is the one thing I know his mom would want because she already lose two sons to gun violence, and her last son, now she has no sons, all daughters, and it really hurt her in a type of way to lose her eyeball in this manner."
But while Augustine's mother had no more sons alive, she will have his 1-year-old son to remember him by.
Augustine had been shot to the mouth in 2021, but was able to survive that attempt on his life. He had been employed by the LIU to clean up the streets of Belize City.
