In our headline, we told you about the 5 men who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their cold weather fishing trip took a turn for the worse.
But while those men were found alive and relatively well, the families of two fishermen and one teenaged boy have yet to get any closure. Their loved ones went missing after they went fishing off Mapp Caye on November 22nd.
They should have come back in that evening, and the fishermen 22-year-old Sheldon Gibson and 21-year-old Elijah Usher, and 14-year-old Kevin Roches were the subjects of an active search by police and Coast Guard. That search was called off after some weeks, and they are now presumed dead.
We spoke to Commandant Elton Bennet at the Coast Guard's annual Christmas Luncheon yesterday and he told us about the challenges that the coast guard has faced in their efforts to solve maritime crimes this year.
Elton Bennet, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"It has been a very challenging time at sea this year we've had quite a few murders at sea and we've had quite a few missing people as well at sea over the past year so what we're doing is to do a little bit more analysis in terms of looking at those geographical areas that are impacted by increased maritime crime and try to concentrate in those areas for example that Mapp Caye, Drown Caye area."
"So we've been able to identify those areas, particularly where we're concentrating our efforts. We know that the fishing industry is the main part of why that criminal violence is increasing in those areas so we're looking at those areas and increasing our patrols to try to deter illegal activities in those areas."
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