Reports come into our office on Monday, August 30, that a resort maintenance worker drowned in an incident that took place at a pier of a resort about four miles in North Ambergris Caye after a night of partying.
According to the police report Gregorio Eustaquio Cornejo, 58-year-old, maintenance worker of a resort in North Ambergris Caye, drowned after he got in an altercation with another male person who punched him in his face causing him to fall in the water. The men were apparently drinking during a staff party when the incident occurred. After Cornejo was retrieved from the sea he started to vomit water and was rushed to Town to Fido’s Dock where Dr. Daniel Gonzalez pronounced the body dead at 7:20 p.m.
According to other news sources, San Pedro Police have since detained 20-year-old, Oscar Varela, an unemployed man of Angel Coral Street of San Pedro Town. Whether or not he will be charged for murder or manslaughter is not yet known. Police are still conducting the investigation and hence that is the reason they have Varela and four others detained pending questioning.
Cornejo’s body was transported to Belize City where the autopsy revealed that Cornejo died of drowning due to a hit to the stomach he received which caused him to swallow water.
The manager of the resort mentioned to News 5 that the staff is supporting the family of Cornejo as he leaves behind two sons – Pedro and Pablo Garcia (past San Pedro High School Graduates) and a grieving wife, Candida Cornejo.
