All through the weekend there was community concern about the whereabouts of well known Belize City businessman 41 year old Gilberto Gallego. He was reported missing on Friday night, but magically re-appeared safe and sound at home on Sunday night.
And, that was the end of it, because it sounded more like a weekend adventure, than a case of kidnapping.
But, tonight, he's not sleeping in his bed at home - and that's because he's at the Hattieville Prison.
In a remarkable reversal of fortune, Gallego has gone from missing, to found, to locked down!
The 41 year old was remanded today after he appeared in court charged for altering his licensed.223 rifle without the permission of the Commissioner of Police. He had allegedly affixed a laser scope to the weapon.
And how did police discover the alteration of the weapon which he had locked up in his home? Well, presumably when they were investigating his short lived disappearing act that they took the gun in for safekeeping.
And when they did that, they discovered the alteration. So, when Gallego went to the police station on Monday with his attorney to reclaim his weapon, instead of getting it back, he was detained, arrested and charged.
Today in court, Gallego pleaded not guilty but because of the nature of the offence, was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until May 16, 2023. He is expected to apply for bail through the Supreme Court.
And in another curious twist to this already odd story, yesterday, two of his friends were taken to court for burglarizing his home on the day after he supposedly went missing, but they only stole a security camera and a pair of house keys.
His common-law wife, Kristy Segura went to court and said she didn't want any court action against them - she told the court that she believed their intentions were good and that they didn't mean any harm.
