Body of Homeless Man Found Floating Near Southern Foreshore in Belize City

The body of 30-year-old Adrian Victor Bood was found on Sunday morning floating in the water near Southern Foreshore in the city. The body was spotted along the sea wall clothed in a white shirt and DARK COLORED short pants lying face down. Bood was homeless and was known to have hung around the streets of downtown Belize City. Love News spoke with One of his elder sisters, Debra young who told us about Bood.

Debra Young, Sister of deceased: “He doesn’t talk much and that is the same thing that everyone from Brodies say. If you don’t ask him something, he won’t say anything but if you have a conversation with him, he will talk to you. Otherwise, than that, he is not a drug addict, he’s not an alcoholic. He just ended in a depression state that led to all of this, and this is the outcome that led to everything that happened. He was on the street for almost over three months or so. We would talk to him, ask him if he wanted somewhere to stay. He would not stay where we left him, that’s the problem we had with him. We tried but he was a difficult person to deal with. He would not listen to you. I am not blaming anybody because I think as far as I know, I think me and my family did the best.  We did our best.  But we tried. We tried.”

Young was the one who identified Bood’s body after ASP Smith issued a public appeal during a media briefing yesterday, asking for assistance to help police with their investigation. She also shared that Bood had struggled with severe seizures throughout his adult life.

Debra Young, Sister of deceased: “He was not decomposed that you could not identify him.  As you look at him, you could see that it was him, his face was just swollen but as you looked at him you could see that it was him. I didn’t see the entire body to see if he had any marks or signs of being beaten or anything. So, we are just waiting for them to finish and follow up with the police report and hear what will happen after the autopsy because to tell you the truth, nobody actually knows what happened. We don’t even know how he got there. I know my mom said that sometimes she would go to look for him he would be sitting by the water side, I think there is a ledge or something where you can go out and every now and again, he would go wash his foot, wash his hand, wash his face. He started to have seizures, so I don’t know if maybe he caught a seizure while he was sitting by the water side and he fell in because sometimes it just happens without warning.  We tried to get him medical help but every time we made appointments and stuff, he would change his mind and not go. So, I don’t know if he had a seizure because as the police said, I saw the body and it didn’t have any  kind of burst, no kind of blood stain, no bruising or anything that could maybe indicate if someone had pushed him off the ledge. So the only thing we, my family and I think is that maybe he had a seizure and he fell in the water.”

Debra also urges households with family members struggling with mental health illnesses to pay close attention to warning signs. Highlighting that, this is something serious that should no longer be brushed aside. 

Debra Young, Sister of deceased: “People just have to pay more mind to depression,  because I guess sometimes, we take depression lightly. Apparently, it is something serious.  Maybe when they start at an early age, just try to get help.” 

Yvette Belisle, Cousin of deceased: “We tried with him, the entire family.  We have  the people from Brodies who say they see my aunt go out there, they see other family members who would stop by and give him little something,  cash or something, because he likes to eat. He eats big.  So  yeah, so  that’s all.”