A mother’s worst fear became a heartbreaking reality today. One week after seventeen year old Alwin Marin Jr. left home to go fishing with a friend, his search ended in tragedy when his body was discovered in a remote area of Belize City. Alwin had been missing alongside Jaheil Westby, whose bullet riddled body was found last week. Now, police believe the two deaths may be connected, as investigators work to untangle what happened in those final moments. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with this report.
Alwin Marin Jr.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A week after he left home to go fishing with a friend, the search for seventeen‑year‑old Alwin Marin Jr. ended in heartbreak. His decomposing body was found this morning by his mother, Patricia Cardinez, in a remote area of Belize City known as Dykes. Marin disappeared from his Jane Usher Boulevard neighborhood and was reported missing four days later, after failing to return home with his friend, Jaheil Westby. Westby’s bullet-riddled body was discovered last Friday. Since her son vanished, Cardinez never stopped looking and today, she made the devastating discovery herself.
Patricia Cardinez
Patricia Cardinez, Mother of Deceased
“I feel good that I find my son, that I searched. I search eena di bush. I sih jankro, and I search til I find my son.
That grisly discovery earlier today confirmed her worst fear. Like Jaheil, Alwin had been violently killed in an area far from where he lived.
Patricia Cardinez
“I hurt fi know that I find my son way da back yah soh cause my son da wah lee bwai weh usually goh and cohn home back. But, at the same time, too, how my son dead now, soh who kill my son?”
Jaheil Westby
That’s the key question for investigators, who believe those responsible for killing Jaheil Westby may also be behind Alwin Marin’s death.
Hilberto Romero
ACP Hilberto Romero, Head, National Crime Investigation Branch
“The body has been retrieved and taken to the forensic laboratory where it awaits a post mortem examination. This report was made from last week Friday and from then searches were being conducted in the area and the body of Jaheil Westby was found on Friday. They were together, so it’s case we were following up on from the day.”
Cardinez believes her son was killed over something as unexpected as a horse, a detail that has struck a nerve across the city. As we’ve reported, loose and stolen horses have become a growing problem, frustrating residents and authorities alike. Now, in this case, that ongoing issue may have taken a dangerous turn, raising troubling questions about whether a long‑standing nuisance has escalated into deadly violence.
Patricia Cardinez
“This happened ova wahn horse, yoh know why, because di two lee bwai dehn mi deh pan di horse. Soh if di two lee bwai dehn deh pan di horse, soh weh paat di two lee bwai dehn deh then? Then I just find my son. Soh [weh] I woulda wahn dehn do dah pick up people weh involved eena my son murder.”
With Alwin Marin now confirmed dead, the investigation has taken a sharp turn. Detectives are being forced to abandon earlier theories and chase new leads. At first, police suspected Marin may have been involved in Jaheil Westby’s murder, a claim that stood in stark contrast to the public pleas made by Marin’s mother just days earlier, as she begged for her missing son to come home safely.
Patricia Cardinez
“Di policeman dehn weh gaan da my house and di search fi my son, how I wah di hide my son when I still yet deh pan di news and still yet di search fi my son. Now I find my son now, soh who kill my son?”
Now, those assumptions are being reexamined as investigators work to piece together what really happened.
Reporter
“Would you be able to say, from what you gathered at the scene, why is it that Marin’s body was found much farther away from Mr. Westby’s. Do you believe that they were running from someone?”
ACP Hilberto Romero
“That is what the scene is showing, that they both ran away from that area in separate directions.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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