TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO COLLECT THE REWARD FOR THE
SAFE RETURN OF BENJAMIN RASH AND ONELIA RASH
A reward in the amount of BZ$12,750.00 (Twelve thousand, Seven Hundred Fifty Belize dollars) is being offered by an anonymous group of donors for the safe return of both Benjamin Rash and Onelia Rash, aged eleven (11) and nine (9), who were last seen on August 30, 2010 near Cattle Landing, in the Toledo District of Belize. Such reward will be paid to the person or persons responsible for the safe return of these children. This reward will only be paid if the following conditions are met:
1. Both children must be alive and in the custody of either the Belize Police Department or the children’s family.
2. The reward will not be paid unless both children are recovered alive. There will be no partial reward for the return of just one child.
3. The reward will not be paid before the children are in the custody of the Belize Police Department or the children’s family. There will be no advance payment of any kind, including (but not limited) to “out-of-pocket expenses,” “facilitation fees,” “locator’s fees,” etc.
4. The reward will be paid to anyone who is aware of the location of the children if he or she provides this information to the Police, and the information leads to the safe recovery of both children. In order to collect the reward, the person providing this information must be able to confirm that they were the ones who provided the information.
5. If more than one person is responsible for the safe recovery of both children, the reward will be split between those persons. In no case will the total reward paid exceed BZ$12,750.00 (Twelve thousand, Seven Hundred, Fifty Belize dollars).
6. If the children are safely returned, and there is a dispute between persons attempting to claim the reward, the Belize Police Department will decide who the reward shall be paid to. The decision of the Belize Police Department will be final.
For further information, or to report the whereabouts of these children, please contact
MIGUEL A. SEGURA, ASST. COMISSIONER,
HEAD NATIONAL CRIMES INVESTIGATION BRANCH,
Crime Stoppers Hot line – 0-800–922-TIPS
e-mail: masegura666@gmail.com
The night was highlighted by two fire dance performances by Marisa Tellez who is a student intern at ACES and a PhD candidate specializing in Crocodilian Parastiology.
The croc, which had been in captivity for an estimated three weeks, was literally chained and locked to a nearby coconut tree where it lay in the surf of the Corozal Bay. Surrounded in seaweed and garbage, and eaten by sand fleas, the creature had been tormented for weeks by onlookers who managed to poke both its eyes out, shoot it in the head, pull out most of its teeth and was left to slowly die.
Close to starvation and dehydrated from the lack of fresh water the animal demonstrated little resistance when the team proceed with their rescue. With no key to unlock the chained creature, measures were taken to break open the lock.
On initial examination it was confirmed that the male croc was a freshwater Morelet’s Crocodile. It was speculated that it came from one of the two nearby rivers that empty into the bay. The animal was most likely looking for food in the bay area when it was captured and because it is essentially a fresh water animal the salinity of the bay water was an added hardship for the animal to endure while held captive on the beach.
Once the croc was contained it was loaded into a large PVC culvert which was secured onto the flatbed of the ACES truck. The animal was then hosed down with fresh water to assure its comfort while traveling. Although it was uncertain if the animal would survive the drive back to Punta Gorda the ACES team decided, based on the survival stamina of crocodiles in general, that it was worth a try.
Close to seven hours later they arrived in the dark to the ACES compound in Punta Gorda where the croc was unloaded into a solitary holding pen. Although blind and dazed the animal quickly moved into the fresh water pool where a chicken meal, fortified with vitamins and minerals was left in hopes that he would eat.
On Friday the croc did not visibly show increased signs of stress but his injuries (especially the exit wound from where he was shot) continued to fester. With the chicken meal untouched, it was decided that if he did not eat in the next 24 hours they would have to resort to force feeding the animal.
Based on research from previous rescues of injured crocs the ACES team has found that after a couple of forced meals the animal usually starts to eat again. If this croc, which was named Ripley after a recent donor to the ACES facility, does not start eating after the forced-feeding regiment the team, with permission from the Belize Forest Department, may decide to euthanize the animal.
Two species of crocodiles reside in Belize, the American Crocodile and Morelet's, and both are currently listed as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act and are also considered threatened by the Coastal Zone Management Program, Department of Fisheries, and the Government of Belize due to a number of threats.