Five years from now, in a case that has shattered a tight-knit family in Belize’s Cayo District, an official autopsy has confirmed 21-year-old Delisha Estrada died by homicide — a finding that turned a family’s desperate search for answers into an active police murder probe. For Estrada’s mother, Locett Vanegas, the official ruling only validated the grim suspicion she had carried since her daughter’s sudden disappearance.
As law enforcement continues working to identify the perpetrator and uncover the motive behind the killing, Estrada’s family is left picking up the pieces of a life violently torn apart. At the heart of their struggle is Estrada’s young son, who will now grow up without his mother’s guidance, love and presence. While investigators chase leads to deliver long-overdue justice for the young woman, Vanegas faces a far more personal, heart-wrenching challenge: helping her grandson process a tragedy no child should ever be forced to confront.
In an exclusive interview with local outlet News Five, Vanegas opened up about the crippling heartache of losing her child, the lingering unanswered questions that continue to haunt her family, and the quiet strength they are clinging to amid overwhelming grief.
“I really and truly am still not satisfied. I still can’t get any closure, because I knew from the beginning that my daughter was murdered,” Vanegas shared in a phone interview with the outlet. “It’s so hard. It’s still hard, especially because we have the baby to care for. Every day he asks for his mom, and we don’t know how to tell him what happened. How do you explain that to a child?”
Vanegas noted that while she knows the person connected to her daughter’s death, she is focusing her energy on caring for her grandson alongside the rest of the family. “I can’t do anything to bring my daughter back. All I can do now is cherish her son,” she said. “This hurt will stay with me forever, but life goes on, and I have to keep going for him and for me. I just want the baby to be surrounded by love right now — that’s all I need or want.”
She also issued a public plea to communities: “I just want everybody to know that once you see a child in an abusive situation, do your best to get them out of it. That’s all you can do.”
Reporters reached out to the Williams family for comment in connection with the case. While the family requested privacy as they grieve their own loved one, they extended sincere condolences to the Estrada family and emphasized that supporting and caring for the young orphaned boy must be the top priority moving forward.
This report is adapted from a transcript of an evening television newscast; all statements from Vanegas, originally delivered in Kriol, have been transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accessibility.