Spaniard Murdered on San Pedro Ambergris Caye
maria Plaza
Thirty-seven year old Maria Plaza, a Spanish flight attendant, was reported missing in San Pedro Town since Sunday. The tragic news tonight is that shortly before three this afternoon, her badly bruised, half-nude body was discovered at a yard in a busy area of town. Plaza went for a stroll that took her less than a mile from her hotel, Corona Del Mar. Her body was found less than half a mile on the same stretch, just two buildings from the Belize Yacht Club. San Pedro businessman, Dennis Sunderman, who lives at the property where Plaza’s body was found, had been away from home since Sunday. Today he got a call to alert him of the grisly discovery. Up to news time, police were still at the scene awaiting the forensic expert to conduct a post mortem to determine how Plaza met her death. Since Monday, a search was going on for Plaza. When News Five’s Marion Ali visited the island today, she retraced the last journey that Plaza took. Here’s her report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
This morning, the San Pedro community took to the streets to hand out flyers of missing flight attendant, Maria Antonia Plaza Gomez, a thirty seven year old, from Spain. Since last Friday Plaza had been staying at the Corona del Mar Hotel, a tourist resort on the south side of the island, but went missing on Sunday, just hours before she was supposed to check out of her hotel room and report back at Maya Island Air’s San Pedro office. 
She did neither, and her employers, Swift Air of Guatemala and Maya Island Air Regional, grew concerned since Plaza was scheduled to board the two o’clock plane from San Pedro to Belize City on Sunday and then officially take on her duties as attendant on a scheduled three thirty flight from Belize City to Guatemala.
T
his shot shows Plaza leaving the front entrance of the hotel after breakfast around eight on Sunday morning, and the chronology of events that occurred thereafter never placed her further than a mile from the hotel. But because concerned business persons from the island, led by entrepreneur Milo Paz, felt something was wrong, they retraced her steps that morning and shared those findings with us.
Milo paz
Milo Paz, Concerned San Pedro Businessman
“The young lady left Corona Del Mar at seven-fifty-eight and we know that because it is on their video surveillance camera. We know that she stopped at Ramon’s at the gift shop and she made a purchase. We can say that around nine-twenty-eight she made a purchase at Ramon’s. I can further tell you that she went to reconfirm her return flight to Belize with Maya Island at around ten thirty.”
From Maya Island Air Plaza walked back towards her hotel, situated about a mile south of the centre of Town. On her way she met a man because the last person who gave an account of her, Arnulfo Escobar, a fruit vendor, told News Five that the two stopped at his makeshift counter to make a purchase, after which they continued in the direction of her hotel.
Arnulfo escobar
Arnulfo Escobar, Fruit Vendor (Translated)
“On Sunday at around eleven in the morning she came here to our stall with a gringo, a tall stocky-built man who had long hair and carried a backpack. She purchased two packs of crackerjack and they left in this direction. (pointing up the street).”
Plaza walked with her male companion on this straight thoroughfare named Coconut Drive, a busy artery that leads from the north to the south of the island. She headed towards her hotel, which is located about a half a mile away from the fruit stand on the same stretch. But no one who lives or works in the area knew what became of her or her friend. No one heard any strange noises either and it appeared that Plaza simply disappeared into thin air.
But it is not often that someone voluntarily skips town, leaving behind their money, travel documents, and other personal effects and is found safe after. And that is why when news like this hits a tourist destination like San Pedro; it prompts the community to react.
Milo Paz
“The whole business community of the island has to worry because she was visiting in the capacity as a tourist and as a concerned businessman I am helping out today and as a friend of Maya Island to see where we can get to with this missing person.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Marion Ali.
500 tourists to Belize for winter? Where can you go that has zero crime? San Pedro is pretty safe compared to most other places to visit.
I have brought nearly 900 people to Belize over the past 6 years without incident.
find his sick @## if he is not in BELIZE have him extradicted back to BELIZE,whoever did this to this woman needs to pay,please check all the water taxi and airlines to see who left the ISLAND.
Una pena, tuve la suerte de conocer Belize (Belize city, PG, Cayes) and I didn´t find it more dangerous than other neighbour countries as Guate, Mexico or Honduras. It’s a very beutiful country, completely diferent to the rest of the world. It’s a shame, I’m very sad about this, a spanish girl killed there…
Ánimo y que pillen al culpable, no puede ser muy difícil en un país pequeño, en el que se tuvo que transportar en avión o barco, hay que atar cabos.
Saludos desde España
J
Hello San Pedro: This young lady was accompanied by a so called GRINGO.Would you all have ask the Gringo for some form of identification?Maybe not because his profile doesn’t fit a proud negrito like me.
I thought San Pedro wasn’t a part of Belize.So why is this isolated island getting hit by the crime wave?
My deepest condolence goes to the family of this young lady.With that said i wish this incident would make every Belizean realize that no one in this jewel is immune to this crime situation.
For those who have been affected by my comment realize what is happening in Bze although we may not want to admit it racism in alive and well within our jewel. I have travelled and I expect thing like asking for ID and documentation when am outside or leaving my country but not within it. As a born Belizean it is my right to go anywhere I pls within its limits and not feel offended or bombarded by anyone for documentation because they thing I am going to do harm. When ppl go to San Pedro they go for relaxation not to be searched and questioned like am going to the US. Come on ppl everyone is quick to jump and say its a Belizean when ppl have clearly stated she was last seen with an American man but wen they see a white man they believe he can do no wrong alot of foreigners are in this country running from the law and do we take time to see who they really are Nooo because they have money and will help take money to San Pedro. Let a few city guys go on the boats or are on the island immediate alert they are there to rob and murder if that isn’t racial profiling I dont know what is!
I plead with Channel 5 to take a few minutes off and play Lord Laro’s “Foreign Press” for TOURIST. If you have enough sense to rope in 500 travelers you should have enough sense to know that this is not the end of time and that in your very own home town you have far more murders…..
Tourist You appear to have been educated but you cannot and should not be in charge of more than yourself! You cannot put a sentence together how do you expect to do a tour????
” i am a Canadian tourist working in the media area of the country”
Tourists do not work in Belize
American tourist from how you write you are a fake tourist taking cheep shots in the dark!!!’
Canadian Tourist seems the tourist is the same person as the American & Canadian
There is no doubt crime is bad, however once we all accept the fact the rich are getting richer poor are getting F#*K. The numbers of the poor are on the increase. This is a world wide problem. It is a FACT if you are lazy you resort, no pun intended, to crime how do you ever expect to have something??? CRIME DOESN’T PAY THE…GIVES YOU AWAY
RIP Maria
what happened to all the other comments where did they go?
Again @ Dr. this is not about racial profiling, imagine the customs, police government workers all doing their jobs instead of just sitting down….Each town has a manifesto of persons who stays, when a crime does occur take the manifesto look at it see who travels often and you make a deduction ok every time this white man comes to Corozal a kid goes missing, lets investigate a little harder, each time mr jones comes into town there are more drugs, lets get off our lazy bums and investigate. Crime will only stop with hard work and communication you cannot expect Barrow / Briceno to solve all your problems, get those lazy bums of government workers, starting from secretarys going all the way up to get up and do what they get paid, want more money but not willing to put the extra effort to work for it.
Belize will never change cause its the criminals that shout racism will always have more voice than the few hard working men and women
Tourist, that is bs. Every country in the world has crime. Plus it was a “tourist” that supposedly was last seen with her. That means that no matter where you go in the world, this could happen. 500 tourist?? Belize City has more crime and tourist still visit. It is mostly people that are involved in illegal stuff that get killed. Of course Maria was an exception. I hope they find her murderer and he is put away like the Jaguar that killed the human.
Nunca te dije que te queria! No fue tarde sino que no era el momento! Por eso me doy cuenta de lo insignificante que soy! Te lo tenia que haber llegado! Espero que estes donde estes….. Ta acuerdes de mi guapa! NO ES JUSTO