Charred Remains Unidentified; Cause of Death is Undetermined
Police say they don’t know how two persons were murdered inside a Belize City delivery truck found off the Farm Four Road in San Juan, Stann Creek District. The post-mortem was not able to determine the cause of death. At this time, police say that while they have the identity of the person who drives the truck, they can’t say for sure that he is one of the persons killed. They have to wait for D.N.A. evidence to establish this. As we reported on Thursday, the family of thirty-three-year-old Pablo Sosa told us that they believe that remains in the truck may be his. Tonight, police have very little to go with to find out what happened to the persons who were set on fire inside the delivery truck. Reporter Andrea Polanco tells us what police know so far. Here’s the story.
Pablo Sosa
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
This is what’s left of this delivery truck after it was torched and abandoned in the savannah area of San Juan. It was discovered sometime around seven on Thursday morning. Inside, police discovered the charred remains of two persons – burnt beyond recognition. The identities are not yet known. What we do know about this case is that the truck belongs to Salvador W. Habet, a hardware store in Belize City. When the truck left its base on Monday morning, the driver was thirty-three-year-old salesman Pablo Sosa. Authorities are stumped – they have little details to go with to determine what happened. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that they are treating it as a homicide, although they have been unable to determine the cause of death.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We know little at this time. Yesterday, the post-mortem was conducted and the cause of death is undetermined. As to whether or not we are treating it as a homicide, yes, we are treating it as a homicide. We are investigating to see whether there is any person or persons culpable in that particular incident.”
On Thursday when we spoke with Sosa’s family they said that they strongly believed that he’s one of the bodies inside the truck. The last time they saw him and spoke with him was on Monday morning. He made a stop at his family home in Pomona where he told them that he was heading to do deliveries in the San Juan – Independence area. Sosa was travelling alone at the time. His family was unable to reach him on his cell-phone as of that Monday night. Williams shares what the investigation has uncovered so far.
Chester Williams
“The investigation revealed that the last time one of the individuals was seen alive was the night before and he was drinking. We are also following that lead to see where he was drinking, with whom he was drinking and every other thing that can take us to determine what exactly may have transpired.”
Although we know that Sosa is the truck driver – no information is available about whom the other person may be. Authorities say that they cannot name Sosa as one of the persons who perished inside because they don’t have the DNA evidence yet to support this. Earlier today, the Crime Stoppers Belize issued a flyer listing Sosa as a missing person.
Chester Williams
“We have to look at every possibility. I don’t want to say definitely that it is him. But it can be assumed. I don’t want to rely too much on assumptions. We have collected samples from a scene and those samples will be sent for DNA. When that result comes back then we will be able to say for sure, through scientific evidence if it is indeed it is the person you are referring to.”
A representative of the business told us today that they didn’t think anything was wrong when Sosa didn’t return to work this week. They say that sometimes he would stay a night or two out on the road and they know that cellular service is spotty along the route he was taking. They also confirmed that Sosa was the only employee doing deliveries, as per business practice. They are yet to determine if the items were delivered to the customers. Here’s what police shared about Sosa’s movements.
Chester Williams
“He didn’t take too much goods for delivery. I think he had one delivery and based on what I was briefed by investigators, he was to return to Belize City the night after the delivery but he had sought permission from his employer to sat back to do a personal errand and that was granted to him, hence he remained down there. But, again, I still don’t want it to be said that I am confirming if it is this individual. We still don’t know if it is him and we have to rely on DNA evidence.”
Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
