Weather improves but B.D.F. sergeant still missing
A full week has now elapsed since Belize Defence Force Sergeant Ramon Aguilar disappeared during a training course in the Chiquibul Forest … and there is still no hint of his whereabouts. Tonight the only good news to report is that improved weather conditions have allowed more flyovers by B.D.F. aircraft. Those planes are not expected to be able to spot a man under the deep jungle canopy but it is possible for Aguilar to be sighted if he managed to make his way to a wide spot on the bank of a river or creek. Equally important, for Aguilar just to hear an aircraft flying overhead is a morale builder, indicating to him that his fellow soldiers have not given up their search. Speaking to News Five today via telephone B.D.F. chief of staff, Lt. Col. Reuel Black told us that he is certain Aguilar is alive and believes that he is most likely on the move … which is why the search teams have yet to encounter him. Black offered up a number of scenarios, among them: it is doubtful that Aguilar mistakenly crossed the border into Guatemala. To do that he would have had to cross the main Caracol Road and this would make no sense, since if he did reach the road he would have walked on it either north or south to safety. Another possibility is that he ran into some Guatemalan Xate harvesters working illegally in Belize. They would not necessarily be hostile, but it could be that he would stay with them at their camp and on their way back across the border to deliver their harvest–usually on a Thursday–they would guide him to the nearest road. Of course there is a more frightening variation on that theme: that is that the armed Xateros could have taken him prisoner and will hold him for ransom. What Black did not say, however, is that a surprise encounter with armed Xateros could just as easily have resulted in a firefight, with an outgunned Aguilar on the losing end. But all of this, of course, is conjecture. There’s always the possibility of injury: an accidental fall, snakebite or a tumble into a cave or sinkhole. We understand that the two canine equipped rescue squads from Cave’s Branch are looking at the many caves in the area and officers of the Forest Department have joined the growing B.D.F. search force on the ground. The bottom line is that Aguilar is a well trained soldier with thirteen years of experience. He has his survival kit and knows how to use it. The odds are definitely on his side. As I speak members of the B.D.F. Family Association are visiting with Aguilar’s family and doing the same as Belizeans all over the world: praying for his safe return.
