<p><strong style="font-size:13px;">Seventy-one-year-old Ramon Cervantes Sr. has been missing since Tuesday. Early that morning, the Orange Walk Town businessman, cane-farmer, former senator and mayor left home for his farm, located on the San Roman road in the Mamayal Area. His family hasn’t seen him since, and his vehicle was found abandoned on the cane-field. Today, Orange Walk Police and other specialized units are fully engaged in the case, although they are treating it as a missing person report, and not a kidnapping. Today, Mike Rudon travelled to Orange Walk where he found a family frantically searching for clues to the whereabouts of Ramon Cervantes Sr. Here’s the story.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Mike Rudon, Reporting</strong></p>
<p>According to his family, Ramon Cervantes Sr. is a stickler for routine. Every morning at seven he opens the family business, and at eight he goes to his farm, located just a few miles out of Orange Walk Town. He usually heads back into town for lunch, but on Tuesday he didn’t show. That was the first indication that something was not quite right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr., Father is Missing</strong></p>
<p><em>“I was at the San Antonio quarry when my sister called me about three, three-thirty to ask if I had spoken to my dad because she’s calling and can’t get in touch with him. She said she spoke to him briefly but the call was cut short and he sounded different. So I called him at about three-thirty, three thirty-five thereabouts and he answered but he told me that his Rover broke down at the cane-fields and he was heading to San Jose for some help. He mentioned that he was going to a certain family to get some help. So I called my sister and she was already by the cane-fields and I told her to go to San Jose because my dad said that he was going there to the family he mentioned. Well, she went and my dad wasn’t there…he hadn’t been there.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ramon Cervantes Jr. called his dad again. He answered and said that he was in San Jose in some area he doesn’t know. Cervantes Jr. says his dad knows every area of San Jose, so that set off some alarm bells. But more than that, his father’s voice was strange.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“He would never say something like that, and his voice sounded very weak, tired, fatigued, dragging…so there is when I heard something was wrong.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cervantes was already heading to the cane-field on the San Roman Road, and there he found his father’s Land Rover abandoned, his father nowhere to be found.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“The tailgate was opened with chemicals and mixtures were there on the ground. About five cane rows away from where the Land Rover was we, me and my sister, found his cap on the ground. We saw his spray pump thrown on the ground. The hose of the spray pump was clearly slashed by a machete. We also saw the carton core of a duct-tape. We saw some coins on the ground…I think a dollar coin and some shillings and some five cents and a water bottle thrown somewhere around there…dollar water.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>From the scene the family deduced that there was some sort of struggle, and Cervantes immediately turned to the Police, who he says responded promptly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“I think they overpowered him…he was overpowered definitely by more than one person…tied, bound and taken somewhere…I think he was taken somewhere.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvett, Commander, Northern Zone</strong></p>
<p><em>“Even though there’s a certain period of time in which certain officers would use their discretion in waiting…as a consequence of the vehicle being found abandoned on the farm and the victim, Mr. Cervantes, was not located…this became a concern for us and as a consequence we immediately launched an investigation into the matter.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>There have been no demands for ransom and no communication with the elderly man since Tuesday evening. The family of Ramon Cervantes Sr. is convinced that it is a kidnapping, and that he is being held against his will, even though they cannot speculate about a motive at this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“None of our family, none of us have gotten any threats from anyone. We have not had any fights or any friction that we can point to. We simply don’t know.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>And with more questions than answers…all they can do is wait for news, and hope for the best.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“Well my dad is on medication. I think they need to do something to at least have him in good health to take that into account. I don’t know how they will get those medicines to him but please I do appeal that they take care of him health-wise until we work things out…whichever way…I don’t know.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reporter</strong></p>
<p>“Monchi…what does your family do from this point on?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“Pray…”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mike Rudon for News Five.</p>
View the full article
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Mike Rudon, Reporting</strong></p>
<p>According to his family, Ramon Cervantes Sr. is a stickler for routine. Every morning at seven he opens the family business, and at eight he goes to his farm, located just a few miles out of Orange Walk Town. He usually heads back into town for lunch, but on Tuesday he didn’t show. That was the first indication that something was not quite right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr., Father is Missing</strong></p>
<p><em>“I was at the San Antonio quarry when my sister called me about three, three-thirty to ask if I had spoken to my dad because she’s calling and can’t get in touch with him. She said she spoke to him briefly but the call was cut short and he sounded different. So I called him at about three-thirty, three thirty-five thereabouts and he answered but he told me that his Rover broke down at the cane-fields and he was heading to San Jose for some help. He mentioned that he was going to a certain family to get some help. So I called my sister and she was already by the cane-fields and I told her to go to San Jose because my dad said that he was going there to the family he mentioned. Well, she went and my dad wasn’t there…he hadn’t been there.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ramon Cervantes Jr. called his dad again. He answered and said that he was in San Jose in some area he doesn’t know. Cervantes Jr. says his dad knows every area of San Jose, so that set off some alarm bells. But more than that, his father’s voice was strange.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“He would never say something like that, and his voice sounded very weak, tired, fatigued, dragging…so there is when I heard something was wrong.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cervantes was already heading to the cane-field on the San Roman Road, and there he found his father’s Land Rover abandoned, his father nowhere to be found.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“The tailgate was opened with chemicals and mixtures were there on the ground. About five cane rows away from where the Land Rover was we, me and my sister, found his cap on the ground. We saw his spray pump thrown on the ground. The hose of the spray pump was clearly slashed by a machete. We also saw the carton core of a duct-tape. We saw some coins on the ground…I think a dollar coin and some shillings and some five cents and a water bottle thrown somewhere around there…dollar water.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>From the scene the family deduced that there was some sort of struggle, and Cervantes immediately turned to the Police, who he says responded promptly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“I think they overpowered him…he was overpowered definitely by more than one person…tied, bound and taken somewhere…I think he was taken somewhere.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sr. Supt. Joseph Myvett, Commander, Northern Zone</strong></p>
<p><em>“Even though there’s a certain period of time in which certain officers would use their discretion in waiting…as a consequence of the vehicle being found abandoned on the farm and the victim, Mr. Cervantes, was not located…this became a concern for us and as a consequence we immediately launched an investigation into the matter.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>There have been no demands for ransom and no communication with the elderly man since Tuesday evening. The family of Ramon Cervantes Sr. is convinced that it is a kidnapping, and that he is being held against his will, even though they cannot speculate about a motive at this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“None of our family, none of us have gotten any threats from anyone. We have not had any fights or any friction that we can point to. We simply don’t know.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>And with more questions than answers…all they can do is wait for news, and hope for the best.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“Well my dad is on medication. I think they need to do something to at least have him in good health to take that into account. I don’t know how they will get those medicines to him but please I do appeal that they take care of him health-wise until we work things out…whichever way…I don’t know.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reporter</strong></p>
<p>“Monchi…what does your family do from this point on?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ramon Cervantes Jr.</strong></p>
<p><em>“Pray…”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mike Rudon for News Five.</p>
View the full article