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This afternoon Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado also weighed in on the matter calling on the public and the media to give the police time and let the investigation take its course. The ComPol says that police responded as quickly as they could after receiving the initial report; however the investigation saw some delays, due to members of the public providing leads that were more distracting to authorities than helpful. He pledged that the investigation would be transparent and the public would be appraised of the developments.
Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police: “On August 22nd, 2025 about 9pm a confrontation involving several individuals occurred on Hospital Crescent in Orange Walk Town. A witness reported that one individual matching the description of Joseph Budna was placed in an SUV vehicle with Belize City license plates. In response to that information we immediately activated our investigative and our operational plan and several VCPs were activated at strategic locations. Additional operational personnel were sent to different points. Our border personnel at the borders were informed and basically our operation was fully launched. What the challenge that came to us was when we had to follow leads or misleading leads that diverted or took a number of our investigative capabilities. Initially the information we were getting was several descriptions of several different vehicles and we have to admit that while our checkpoints were out at strategic locations we cannot ascertain exactly where that vehicle that took Budna went to. The Police Department is not involved in the apprehension or the alleged extradition of Mr.Budna. Certain serious allegations were made and from our initial investigation what is being alleged was not conducted by our police officers or were not sanctioned by the senior command of the Belize Police Department.”
Budna, a Guatemalan-convicted felon, was detained by Guatemalan authorities on Saturday in Arenal, a border village in Guatemala. He has since been transferred to a high-security prison in Guatemala City, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence. The recapture brings to a close a nearly six-year flight from justice. Budna was originally sentenced to 30 years in a Guatemalan prison for charges of kidnapping and abduction. However, he escaped in 2019 and fled to Belize, where he sought refuge. By the following year, Budna was convicted of pedophilia against a 14-year-old in the year 2000, for which he served eight of ten years at the Belize Central Prison. Currently, before the Belize courts is a 2021 murder case for which Budna was charged with abetment in August last year. Prior to that, Budna was at the center of a case where a minor was found inside his home in the Cayo District. In this case, in August 2023, someone had gone to Budna’s house in the Branch Mouth area to target him, but ended up fatally shooting 16-year-old, Kevin Hernandez. Love News understands that Budna is currently awaiting a court hearing in Guatemala City which is slated to take place today
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