Missing Mother of 2 Found Dead: Felina James was Chopped to Death

Felina James

After being missing for seven days, thirty-six-year-old Felina James was found murdered and her body dumped along the Coastal Road. Her remains were discovered by a caretaker of a nearby farm. He told police that he smelled what he believed was a rotting carcas of a horse but upon making checks, he realized that it was the body of a semi-nude woman. The mother of two had been chopped to death elsewhere and her body disposed of in the bushes along the Coastal Road. James, originally from Belize City, was last seen on a road between Sarteneja and Chunox Villages by a bus conductor, who spotted her on with an unidentified man. She had left Belize City to retrieve her belongings from a home in Sarteneja where she had lived for about two months. James had apparently made a decision to move to the U.S. to live with her husband. Earlier in the week, identification cards belonging to James were found in Belmopan. Her vehicle has yet to be located. But as News Five’s Hipolito Novelo found out today, her family suspects that the person who killed her was someone who she knew very well.  

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting

Murdered, dumped in the bushes and later found semi nude; today crime of scene technicians were out early, processing the site where the body of thirty-seven year old Felina Margaret James was found. The body was found a few feet off the Coastal Road on Thursday evening. This morning, members of her immediate family were on site to identify that the body was that of James. Although in an advanced state of decomposition, James’ father Efrain Granados recognized her tattoos.

Efrain Granados

Efrain Granados, Father of Felina James

“The police notified me at around seven o’clock last night that they had found the body of my daughter, Felina Margarita. I felt really sad because knowing that a man who killed a woman with such spite and rage, it is sad because a women who is alone, defenseless and worse in the bushes; well a man could do with whatever he wants with her before killing her. I would like for the law to do its job.”

The mother of two was seen last week Thursday, when she left her children at a babysitter in Belize City. She then drove her burgundy Kia Sorrento to Sarteneja Village where she had been staying with her stepbrother for a couple of months. She went there to retrieve her belongings as she had made plans to relocate to the U.S. to live with her husband. She had plans to move with her two children, one which reportedly is for the boyfriend, who she was seeing while in Belize. It is believed that James was chopped to death multiple times and her body dumped along the Coastal Road. Three identification cards belonging to James were found in Belmopan earlier this week.

Efrain Granados

“It appears an acid was thrown on her face because you can only see the bones of her face. She was swollen because she had about four to five days of being dead. It is possible that she was killed on Saturday. It hurts my heart because it is my daughter. I registered her. I gave her my surname. Since she is married she has another surname. So let me speak to the men in general, raise your children well so when they grow up they do not commit errors against women. Women for me have to be respected. A man has the obligation to respect a woman. And if the man is jealous of the women, he has no right to abuse, in any manner, the woman. Separation and discussion exist if the relationship is not going well. So, I am grateful for the authorities for helping me out and I hope they investigate well and that justice is served for my daughter.”

During her trip to Sarteneja Village, James came in contact with the boyfriend. A bus conductor told police that he saw James with a man on the road side between Chunox and Sarteneja villages. James’ vehicle had suffered a flat. That was the last known time someone saw her alive. She had a rocky relationship with the boyfriend and reports suggest that he was abusive towards her.

Efrain Granados

“The man, I know, is of bad feelings. He is chauvinistic against women. But yes from the report I have from him is that he is chauvinistic against women. That man had a relationship with her for about four years. They lived together almost a year in Orange Walk. I took her stuff of my daughter there and I told her that Orange Walk is not for her because she grew here. But she wanted to be there because the man was working there. I heard that they did not get along and that he mistreated her. She did not report it to police. There were two incidents which she did not report.”

The boyfriend, a B.D.F. soldier, remains in police custody. Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.