Severed Legs Confirmed to be that of Gerardo Vasquez

Gerardo Vasquez

A mother from Ontario Village, Cayo is struggling to come to terms with the gruesome death of her son, and it is suspected he was the victim of a vicious murder.  In September 2018, Gerardo Vasquez went missing; he was seventeen-years-old and gay and was the victim of constant bullying.  Searches for him came up empty-handed until two severed legs were found in the river days after he went missing. DNA tests have now finally confirmed the limbs belonged to Gerardo. Martha Vasquez’s grief is compounded by the notion that she may never know who cut his life short. Here is News Five’s Hipolito Novelo.

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting

Seventeen-year-old Gerardo Vasquez took this picture with his mother Martha on the day he disappeared. It is the last known picture of him. Almost two years ago, on September twenty-fifth, 2018 the Ontario villager mysteriously vanished. He was not feeling well on that day and was left alone to rest while Martha ran some errands.

Martha Vasquez, Mother of Gerardo Vasquez

“About eight o’clock he got up. He went to bathe. He changed his clothes and we took a picture. I still have that picture. That was the last picture that I have from him. We post it on Facebook. I told him we are always together.”

Martha had no idea that would be the last time she would be seeing her son. She heard from him during the day but when she returned home she found the house empty and Vasquez and his bicycle missing.

Martha Vasquez

Martha Vasquez

“When we come back I see that the shoes is there, the bicycle wasn’t there. So how will he go with the bicycle without shoes. Well the thing is when I came back see a trail, dirty from the pipe to come here to the machine. It was strange. But I didn’t say anything about that.”

Hours passed and concerns grew. Martha knew something was wrong and she and her husband began looking for Vasquez.

Martha Vasquez

“I start to worry. I tried to call him but nothing. We got no answer. I used to ring a lot but nothing.  My husband and I went way to Georgeville, taking our time, but he said he is not here. So we had to come back.”

Hipolito Novelo

“By this time you knew something was wrong.”

Martha Vasquez

“That time it was like four, five o’clock. Like what I told the friend, tell me if he reached four o’clock but he told me that he didn’t come yet.”

Vasquez was never seen alive again. Search parties combed the immediate area. With the assistance of police and coast guards officers, a pair of severed limbs was found downstream along the Belize River a few days later. At that time, in 2018, investigators were not able to say if it belonged to Vasquez. Almost two years later, DNA results prove that the legs are for him, confirming Martha’s worse fear.

Martha Vasquez

“They just called me and told me that they have the DNA ready and that it came positive that the legs are for Gerardo, my son.  In the moment, I told the police I am not sure but in my heart I believe that it is him. It is hard for me to believe that it is him. So they did the DNA. The first one did not come out clear, the first three months. Then after that I wait more like six months and after that they told me that they will send it way to Oklahoma. So this one it came three months exactly. So they told me that yes, they called me to see that I have to go and check. So I went to check and they told me that it came positive.”

Vasquez loved to read. He was not known to be a trouble maker. Vasquez was constantly bullied. He was gay teenager and Martha believes that he was killed because of his sexuality.

Martha Vasquez

“People from the village use to bully him because of how he used to dress and thing like that.  Because he is gay so people from the village start to do bully him from long time. So I had to talk to those people to stop harass him.”

Hipolito Novelo

“Do you believe that he was murder because he was gay?”

Martha Vasquez

“Yes, because of jealous people too.”

A man known to the Vasquez family was detained but later released. Martha says that as a mother, she feel as though her son’s murder will remain a mystery.

Hipolito Novelo

“And police had a suspect do you believe that the investigation has halted, nothing will come out from the case?”

Martha Vasquez

“Because we don’t have any proof. That is the big question: we don’t have any  proof. They say they will start searching again but when? We don’t know when. We want to see at least the person who did it in jail. It hard for me like a mother I told him I was a protector. I feel like I lose. I feel like I don’t have any power.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.