Authorities in Orange Walk District have opened a formal murder investigation following the gruesome discovery of 68-year-old Virginio Carrillo’s body early on July 13, 2026, in rural northern Belize. The elderly man’s remains were located along a rural road adjacent to a sugar cane field in San Lazaro Village, according to statements from the national law enforcement agency.
In an official briefing, Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, who leads the country’s National Crimes Investigation Branch, confirmed that Carrillo’s body bore evidence of fatal violence: multiple severe chop wounds across the body. The horrific discovery was made by a local villager who was traveling to work in the same cane field area where the body was found. After spotting the remains, the villager immediately contacted local police to report the incident.
Law enforcement response teams were deployed to the crime scene just after 9:30 a.m. the same day, once the emergency call about the body was processed. Investigators have so far established preliminary details around Carrillo’s final movements: he had left his regular place of work and was en route to his personal agricultural farm when he was killed. At this stage of the probe, Romero noted that no missing person report had been filed for Carrillo prior to the discovery of his body, as his disappearance was not reported to authorities before the villager stumbled on the scene.
Forensic teams have begun processing the remote crime scene to gather physical evidence, while investigators are working to interview local residents and retrace Carrillo’s last known steps to identify a suspect and establish a motive for the killing. No suspects have been named publicly as of the latest update, and police are urging anyone with information related to the incident to come forward to assist with the investigation.