3 days ago
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19-year-old Jamir Cambranes is dead and Police are already seeking two Belize City men as the key players. The young man was the nephew of our media colleague, Alfonso Noble. The preliminary thoughts are that Cambranes was lured out of his Euphrates Street home by persons known to him. A few hours later, he was found dead. Initial investigations reveal that sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 last night, Cambranes left his home on a bicycle to meet with two male individuals who were reportedly in a silver Chevrolet Equinox bearing license plate BZC-50485. Love News has since confirmed that the vehicle is registered to an individual identified as Osman of the Burrell Boom area. Family members say there were early signs that the teenager may have sensed danger. According to his uncle, Alfonso Noble, Cambranes shared his location and even sent a photo of the vehicle he was about to enter before he disappeared.
Alfonso Noble, Uncle of Deceased: “He sent his location he must have had a premonition he also sent a picture of a car that he boarded. He must have known that these people that I’m going with are up to no good. He must have known and he must have known that you know what if it is that something happens my last location at least of my phone would have been known. And for that, like the lady said last week, we are most grateful, we are thankful, we are not happy but we are thankful that he had the presence of mind to say, you know what, this is where I’m at. He was, as I understood it, his brother his older brother found him in an upright position. He had bruises all over his face and body as if he had been brutally beaten. Brutally beaten and to have your older brother come up on this kind of site and the scene is beyond words. At around 9:30 Boom residents reported gunshots in the area and that was it. That was my nephew being taken away from us for absolutely no reason.”
Concern grew later that night when his girlfriend, Dayana Garay, attempted to contact him around 9:20 p.m. but received no response. By approximately 11:15 p.m., she began tracking his phone, which led to a location along the Burrell Boom/Hattieville Road. She alerted Cambranes’ brother, who, along with another relative, searched the area and discovered his body in nearby bushes. Noble described his nephew as a vibrant young man whose life was cut short far too soon, adding that the family remains at a loss as to what may have led to the killing.
Alfonso Noble, Uncle of Deceased: “Reason unknown why he was picked up. I don’t know why he was killed I don’t know. The family members are as stumped as anybody can be. This was a young productive human being and what can I can only describe as animals picked him up and took him away. His father explained to me that the only thanking that he can thank is that they were able to find his body. This seems to be the norm. I saw earlier last week I think it was a mother expressing gratitude for having found her son, I am very much in that same position today. This young man like most young men did not deserve this. He did nothing wrong. And these people who have apathy, these young men who have no guidance, these young men who have no bearing and have no goal or objective in life they need to be sorted out. They need to sort out themselves. Their family members need to do something. This society on a whole needs to do something about this. This is wrong. This young man hasn’t even begun his life. It is my belief, my thinking, he must have been killed because of some ritualistic killing, right of passage or some kind of initiation to say you know you have to do this in order to become a part of any gang and this is wrong. Had it been that he was a gang member I would have not even given you an interview, I would have been like everybody else and said you know what that is what happens when you get involved in those kinds of things. If he had stolen drugs from someone and he had been involved in that spiral I would have said that’s fine. Had it been a road traffic accident I would have said well those are things that happen and it’s unavoidable. For him to have been picked up and taken and killed is crazy.”
Police say their investigation is ongoing, and they are following several leads. Staff Officer for the Belize Police Department, ASP Stacy Smith, provided preliminary details on the case earlier today.
Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “The investigation commenced at 1:56 a.m. on Wednesday, 22nd April, when officers attached to the crimes investigation branch in Ladyville were advised that the body of 19-year-old Jamir Cambranes of Euphrates Avenue was discovered along the Boom Hattieville Road. The officers proceeded to that location where they confirmed what was reported. What we have learned so far in the course of this investigation is that Cambranes departed from his residence in Belize City sometime before 8 o’clock p.m. en route to visit two persons known to him and it was when calls from family members of his went unanswered that a decision was made to track his phone. This decision led them to an area off the Hattieville Road where the body of Cambranes was discovered. The scene was processed and I must say that items of useful evidential material were retrieved and we have also tracked the vehicle in question with the help of the fusion centre and that vehicle is now impounded and is being processed.”
Reporter: In terms of that vehicle, is it in fact a silver equinox?
Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “I believe so, yes.”
Reporter: There has been multiple reports of silver equinox in different incidents. Are there, is there a relation to other incidents?
Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “I had indicated in the past that we had identified the silver equinox of interest in relation to the Bree Arthur’s disappearance. I can confirm that those two vehicles are two separate vehicles though they fit the same description.”
Authorities are expected to provide further updates as the investigation continues.
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