Missing B.D.F. M-16 linked to recent Cayo murders

There is news tonight of a disturbing incident in which suspected Guatemalan bandits held up a B.D.F. soldier and several park rangers. The incident in question occurred over two months ago, on May first at the observation post near the Xuanatunich Maya site and has just been reported. According to information obtained by News Five, on that day a Belize Defence Force solider, who was part of a patrol team stationed at the site, was using the bathroom when he was accosted by a man who pointed a gun in his face. The soldier, whose name was not released for his protection, was then taken to an area behind a temple where four forest rangers were also being held hostage by two other men armed with machetes. The bandits stole the soldier’s M-16 and allegedly told him that the only reason they spared his life was because he was Hispanic and that if he had been black they would have killed him. The men then fled into the bushes. This afternoon Deputy Commander of the Belize Defence Force, Colonel Omar Pulido told News Five that the soldier immediately reported the incident to the patrol commander who launched a search to try and intercept the robbers, but the men had apparently already fled across the border. Pulido says they did not publicise the event so as to prevent copy cat incidents. He says the force is alarmed at the incident has increased patrols in the Cayo District. The missing M-16 is being linked to a number of murders and robberies in the district. An eyewitness in the June twenty-sixth hold-up of five educators on the Arenal Road reported that the robbers used a military type weapon, but officials are unable to confirm whether it the stolen M-16. Authorities are asking persons with information on the weapon to please contact Camp Belizario at 804-2106 or call the nearest police station.