Father of 2 Drowns in Corozal Town

Jose Lara

There was a third loss of life up north. A construction worker drowned in Corozal Town sometime between Monday and Tuesday. The father of two packed his tool bag and left on his bike to look for work. That was the last time that his family saw him until his body was found this morning in the sea. News Five’s Andrea Polanco tells us more in the following story.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Forty-six-year-old Jose Lara left home around midday on Monday afternoon. He told his family that he was going look into a job opportunity and that is the last time they saw him alive. This morning his body was found along the beach on the south end of Corozal Town.

Raul Lara Sr., Brother of the deceased

“Later in the night they saw that he didn’t come back and then a friend saw his bicycle at the beach and recognized his bike as for Jose. So, he was trying to locate him there. He called for him and he didn’t answer. So, he took the bike and brought it here around eight in the night.”

And that is when the family became concerned. They reported to Police that Jose Lara was missing.  The family members searched for him in the town and the area where his bike was found but it didn’t turn up any clues as to his whereabouts. The family went back to search around five this morning, and with the help of a worker in the area they found the body – dressed in only an underwear – washed up along the beach.

Raul Lara Sr.

Raul Lara Sr.

“The police station immediately responded but they couldn’t find him. Until this morning, early in the morning, my other brothers went back by the beach and they spoke with the security there at Blues. He said he didn’t see him but when he went back he saw the body by the edge of the sea like he was drowned.”

A post-mortem conducted late this afternoon determined that Lara died due to drowning. Earlier today when we spoke with the family – they also suspected that Lara went for a swim and drowned.

Raul Lara Sr.

“What we are thinking right now is that he was drunk and went into the water and he drowned. We are not speculating on nothing else right now until what the autopsy say. So, we are mostly thinking that he drowned.”

According to the Lara Family, Jose Lara’s bag with tools, slippers and his bike were retrieved from the scene. The family’s investigation led them to a bar in the town where Lara was drinking that day.

Raul Lara Sr.

“Afterwards I heard he was in a bar drinking and when they went to the bar they saw the cameras and he was there drinking and then he left and from there we didn’t know anything else until this morning when they found him.”

The owners of Rainbow Bar told us that Lara was indeed drinking at his establishment on Monday. They say that he spent about two hours and then he left. Another employee of the business says that Lara was also drinking at another bar in the town that day. The family reports that Jose Lara seemed unusually sad in the past two weeks but he never indicated if he had any problems. Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.