Turneffe caretaker found dead

A caretaker of a fishing camp on Turneffe Island was found dead on Friday, but preliminary examination does not suggest foul play. Fisherman and owner of the camp Leopold Westby today told News Five that he went out to the camp on Friday at about ten am and could not locate sixty-five year old caretaker Joseph Matute. He checked the other camps, and then reported the matter to the Coast Guard before starting a search for Matute. At about three o’clock that afternoon, Westby says they saw Matute’s dory capsized by some mangrove about six miles from the camp. Matute’s body was alongside the dory tangled in a rope near some traps. The find was reported to the Coast Guard who retrieved the body. According to Westby, they believe that Matute took some new traps out in his dory to soak, and somehow the dory capsized and he got tangled in the ropes and drowned before drifting to where he was found on the other side of the lagoon. At news time, there is no word on the results of a post mortem examination which was scheduled for this evening.