American tourist murdered in Toledo village

Tonight a suspect has been charged with murder in the death of a young American backpacker in the Toledo District. Reports to News Five indicate that twenty year old Julia Armstrong Minard, a native of California, had entered Belize through the western border with Guatemala on Thursday, November tenth. Originally travelling with a group, Minard went off on her own and by Sunday she had arrived in Indian Creek, located some twenty miles north of Punta Gorda. Minard befriended some of the locals and began to socialise with them at a village bar. But sometime late last night, something went terribly wrong. Around eleven-thirty police were called to the area where they saw the lifeless body of a young woman lying in the bushes just off the Southern Highway. Around her neck and on both arms were bruises and abrasions, causing authorities to suspect strangulation as the cause of death. Nearby, a knapsack with Minard’s passport and driver’s license were found. Based on eyewitness accounts, police detained twenty year old Agripo Ical and have charged him with murder. At this point the suspected motive was sexual assault. The body of Julia Minard has been transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where it awaits a post mortem examination.