Farmer Killed in Suspected Hit-and-Run Along Southern Highway

Police are investigating a fatal traffic incident that claimed the life of a 62-year-old farmer along the Southern Highway in the Toledo District.  According to police reports, yesterday evening at around 3:45, officers received information via 911 of a traffic accident near Medina Bank Village. Police responded to the area between miles 63 and 64, where they observed the lifeless body of an elderly male of Ketchi descent lying face down on low-cut grass on the side of the road.  The man was bleeding from the head and had visible head injuries, and was later identified by his son, Julian Paau, as 62-year-old Emilio Paau Choc, a farmer of San Benito Poite Village, Toledo District, who had been staying with his son in Medina Bank Village.  Initial investigations revealed that Emilio Choc left home around 1:00 p.m. to go to his farm located a short distance outside Medina Bank Village. Sometime around 3:00 p.m., passengers aboard a bus travelling toward Medina Bank reportedly saw the body, and alerted residents of the village.  Police noted the presence of skid marks near the body, which was found in a non-residential area of the highway, suggesting the man may have been struck by a passing vehicle.  The body was later transported to the Punta Gorda Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:14 p.m.