Nearly one week after another missing teenage boy was found fatally shot in thick brush behind Belize City’s Port area, a heartbroken Belizean mother has personally located the body of her own 17-year-old son, leaving her demanding urgent answers and action from authorities.
Patricia Cardinez, who stepped in front of reporters wearing her late child’s own shirt to share her pain, made the grim discovery on April 16, 2026, while searching the overgrown terrain herself. Her son, Alwin Marin Jr, had disappeared alongside 19-year-old Jaheil Westby, whose gunshot-wounded remains were uncovered in the exact same location six days earlier. Belizean law enforcement has now officially classified the incident as a double homicide investigation, confirming the pair’s disappearances are directly connected.
In an interview with local outlet News Five, Cardinez described her unwavering determination to find her son even as days of uncertainty passed without any official breakthrough. “I search in the bush. I see johncrows, and I search that I find my son,” she recalled of her efforts. “I said I would not give up my hopes, I would not give up my faith… Jah guide me and protect me so that I can find my son today.”
The moment of finding her son brought no closure for Cardinez, only overwhelming grief mixed with fiery anger and urgent calls for accountability. “I find my son now, so who killed my son? That’s the answer I want to know now… I need justice for my son,” she stated firmly.
Cardinez told reporters she believes the brutal killings stem from a prior dispute over a horse, adding that a violent confrontation between the teens and other parties occurred shortly before the pair went missing. Though she declined to publicly name any people she suspects of involvement, she made clear that she expects law enforcement to make rapid arrests in the case. A full broadcast update on the investigation is scheduled to air on News 5 Live at 6 p.m. local time.