Cane cutter dead; snakebite suspected

An Orange Walk man is dead tonight; the victim of what police are saying appears to be the result of a confrontation with a snake. According to police, the body of forty-two year old Jose Luis Mario Gonzalez was found in a cane field in Trinidad village around eight thirty last night. A relative of the deceased told News 5 late this evening that Gonzalez, who is a cane cutter from Yo Creek village, left home around five thirty on Monday morning to assist his brother-in-law. It is not certain what transpired during the course of the day, but at one o’clock yesterday afternoon when Gonzalez failed to return home, his wife became worried. By night fall, when Gonzalez still had not reached home, his wife alerted relatives who drove out to the field, only to find his lifeless body. While Orange Walk police say Gonzalez’s body had what appeared to be snakebites on his back and right hand, a relative says that he might have died of natural causes, as he had recently complained of stomach pains. Gonzalez’s body awaits a post mortem examination at the Northern Regional Hospital scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.