Body found in Belize City; Missing man family believe it’s him

On Friday, a Belize City family received the closure they were desperately searching for when their missing loved one was found dead in the Jane Usher area. The decomposing body was discovered by a man cutting mangroves and is believed to be 27-year-old Akeem Augustine. The Flamboyant Street resident went missing on Christmas day while in the company of his friends, and his family believes he may have been held captive before being killed. They say that Augustine’s torso and the clothing he was last seen in were discovered in a bushy area. His family believes that due to Augustine’s criminal past the police dragged their feet in their investigation into his disappearance. One family member told Love News that they believe the system failed their loved one. 

Relative of Akeem Augustine: “Yes we positively identified that it was his remains and for the condition that we found it we believe that the police and the system failed the family.”

Reporter: Why is that ? 

Relative of Akeem Augustine: “Because then his back was still intact for he was missing for a month and change, from the 25th to be specific and then the way you can still visibly see his tattoo with his name across his back and then for someone to have died a month ago would have seen no flesh at all, this is what I know.”

Reporter: I understand that he was killed very gruesomely ? 

Relative of Akeem Augustine: “Of course he was killed and tortured because his hands and his feet were missing, his head missing all of that. So the only thing we could have positively identified was the pants and his tattoo on his back and we know his structure. He is no saint to the streets and everybody knows him, the police know him as well that’s why we say the police failed because it’s somebody that is on the streets and so but he was changing his life same way for his child and thing so I just said that if the police did their job properly into investigating this problem here the situation they would have found him because you can plainly see that it was just recently he died.”

Reporter: Lastly do you have any idea why someone would have wanted Akeem dead ?

Relative of Akeem Augustine: “Well like I tell you he is not a saint or nothing. He hurt people and changing your life doesn’t mean that it rectified the problem that you did before but at least we have closure and we have peace now that we have at least something to say that he is gone.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero, told the media, today, that the police will be relying on DNA testing to positively identify the body