Two drown at Honey Camp Lagoon in O.W.

And in the north, a three-day camping trip in the area of the Honey Camp Lagoon turned deadly for two persons, including a minor. The group started their well planned vacation on Saturday and on Sunday before they could conclude their holiday, tragedy struck as they headed by canoe to a nearby resort. Duane Moody headed to Honey Camp today and has this report.

Duane Moody
Twenty year old Jennifer Hendricks was on a camping trip with a group of friends near the Honey Camp Lagoon in San Estevan Village, when their canoe caved under their weight. Hendricks and a minor perished. Brian Palacio was paddling the canoe; he and seven other passengers made it to shore but Hendricks and eleven year old Alexander Aban were not so lucky. And today, family and friends gathered at Hendricks’ address in the village of Trial Farm Village to mourn her death.

Aracely Hendricks, Mother of Deceased
“She actually convince me because dehn tell yoh, please mom. Di last thing weh Jennifer tell me is that I’m twenty years old and not a lee child anymore, ih seh please make a go to this camp with mi friends because ih friends mih gwein with her. And like a mother heart, I tell ah okay because she bug me bout more dan wah month and I know da something weh she like.”

Duane Moody
“Was it an over night trip?”

Aracely Hendricks
“Yes, actually two days that she never mi want come until today.”

Duane Moody
“So she left on Sunday around what time?”

Aracely Hendricks
“She left Saturday about eight-thirty eena di morning.”

According to Aracely, she reluctantly allowed her daughter to go on the trip.

Aracely Hendricks
“Dis dah something weh they do every year and when the years a go, my daughter just seh ma, its something weh she like, I could go da this camp out? I mi di insist and say no babes, I mean I put wah excuse, no money noh deh, but da noh really dat, I just neva mi want ih gone because we dah mi wah family weh always go to any trip together. They gwein with wah family weh we know from Jennifer so small. So dah no like ih gone wid somebody weh she neva know. So I really trust him that everything will be okay.”

Duane Moody
“It was group thing, like a group—normally a youth group or something of that sort?”

Aracely Hendricks
“No really, dah wah family make this trip just fi our close friend and put money together to go enjoy themselves. When I get di phone call about four o’clock eena di evening, I mih deh dah Corozal and believe me I mih wah be able fi fly because my love one—but I think my family, I still mi got faith that when I come to the hospital I would find my daughter alive. When I reach to di hospital noh. My brothers, my dad and my rest of friends because she was a famous person, wah friendly person because she mih got lot of friends. I see everybody outside, my heart broken in pieces because I done figure what mi happen. Di hardest part is when I see that box coming into mi yard because di last thing I see that my daughter with ih kit bag eena ih hand and she going with a smile eena the face and I tell ah babes, tek care of yoself. Ih seh ma, I know I cant swim, so for sure, I noh gwein eena the deep but at di same time according to weh dehn tell me, they get eena wah canoe and dehn mih gwein to Chendo’s place go bash. Dehn want go see what di happen over there but that’s all weh I hear from the people weh she gone with.”

And Orange Walk Police confirms that the boat mishap occurred shortly before four o’clock on Easter Sunday afternoon.

Joseph Myvette, O.C., Orange Walk Police Station
“Police responded to the report of drowning in the Honey Camp area. Upon the police’s arrival, the bodies of two persons, namely Jennifer Hendricks and Alex Aban were seen. According to eye witness reports, they were socializing in a canoe along with others, however, because of the choppy conditions of the water, the canoe began taking in water and eventually sank. The canoe at that point of time had a total of about ten persons and unfortunately these two person lost their lives as we were told that they could not swim. The area specifically where the incident occurred is roughly about seven to eight feet in depth.”

Duane Moody
“Do you feel there was too many people in that so called canoe at that point in time?”

Joseph Myvette
“Certainly, base on the description given to us that too many people were in that small canoe.”

Duane Moody, reporting for News Five.

Hendricks and Aban were both laid to rest this afternoon.