Missing two days, body of drowned man surfaces

It does not look like a case of murder but the family of a drowning victim is no less distraught over the tragic death. News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin has more.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Today the Flores family of Lords Bank Village gathered on the banks of the Belize River after the body of their loved one, forty-four year old Omar Flores, finally surfaced. Flores had been missing for two days. The body, clad in a camouflage outfit was lying face down caught, under some tree branches. According to Eva Flores shortly after eight on Monday morning her husband left their house to go and cut wood across the river but when he did not return by night fall she became very concerned.

Eva Flores, Wife of the Deceased
?I went to brother Curlin and asked him, brother Curlin is my husband here? He said no, he is not here. So I told him that he did not come home, so right away he said, ok don?t worry about it. Then he called some friend and they came to the river.?

When the group reached the river bank, they saw a yellow canoe overturned in the water. The small vessel matched the description the boat Flores had used. Onshore there was also a collection of fifteen logs that has led the family to believe Flores was making his final trip back to land with another load when they suspect the vessel overturned. Flores believes that the logs may have struck her husband in his head causing him to lose consciousness. On Tuesday, a number of divers searched the water but only found the victims? axe, machete and more logs. Flores says while she believes her husband may have drowned she will never really know what happened.

Eva Flores
?So we really do not know, but I am happy that we found him. Because my children do not believe that their father died they are still waiting for their father to come home. And until they see the body then they will believe that their father really died. I really do not know what happened. I could only assume that he got hit when the boat capsized. He probably got hit with either the post or the boat and that is my belief. Some people say that probably a speed boat passed and the wave probably flipped him over because the boat is a small boat. His body is still in the water and we have to wait until the doctor comes and inspects him. They don?t want to put him on the land because they say that the body is already decomposed, so we have to bury him. We are waiting on the doctor to come and see what is happening, and then we will have to bury him right away.?

The family say they are also disappointed about the way the authorities responded to the case.

Eva Flores
?The police promised us to come and they did not show up; they told us that they will come, they will come. We even took a vehicle to bring them and they said they had to go do something else then they would come back, and I stayed out there and waited for them and they did not show up. The B.D.F. sent in the maritime wing and when they got there they did not have any diver, they did not have anything. They said we need to get our own diver and everything, so I had to go out and find somebody. We went all the way back town looking for a diver.?

Flores was well known in the community as a gardener who worked hard to take care of his family. Eva and Omar Flores had been married for sixteen years.

Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.