Liliana Nunez to represent Belize

Twenty-one year old beauty, Liliana Nuñez, born San Pedrana, will have the privilege to represent Belize in October at the Reina Internacional Del Trópico in Honduras. A bevy of thirty beauties who hail from the Caribbean, South and Central America will vie for the crown in what has been garnering attention from all corners of the world. The week long pageant is slated for October 20th to 26th, 2008 in which the final selection will take place in La Ceiba, Honduras.
The Sun spoke to Miss Nuñez and found out more about this beauty ambassador. Naturally, she is excited about her trip and about representing Belize in Honduras since pageantry is something she claims she always wanted to do. When asked what prompted or inspired her to participate in the event, Liliana commented she had always wanted to experience what it was like on the international stage and that with a passion for dancing has developed a good grasp of being on stage. With only a few weeks before her departure to Honduras, Liliana says “I have been preparing for this for almost three months, and the one thing I have to offer as a candidate representing Belize is my culture. My hobbies include working out and living a healthy lifestyle, swimming, a passion for dancing and spending time with friends,” she ended. Liliana is a past Miss San Pedro and enjoyed travelling to both Mexico and the USA in her past experiences with the San Pedro Dance Company. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from St. John’s College Junior College.
The pageant will consist of three segments including: swimwear, evening gown and a question and answer session. The competition for best National Costume will be held on October 22nd and Liliana says her costume will depict the Blue Hole as one of the main tourist attractions the Belize jewel has to offer. Only in its second year, the young gala event is geared at bringing to light the importance of preserving our environment; to emphasize that indigenous groups are a part of our culture and to unite all efforts to benefit children and the youth. Last year’s reigning queen, 19-year-old, Brazilian beauty Camila Alcamin will also participate in the event.

The Sun joins the San Pedro community in wishing Liliana the best of luck in the competition!

Jealous rage ends in murder

Update: Murder Suspect in Police Custody

Gregorio Alvaro is now under police custody. San Pedro Police carried out an extensive man hunt for Alvaro and detained him at approximately 10:45 on Thursday morning. Alvaro was found to be hiding out in a house around Captain Morgan's Retreat in north Ambergris Caye. Charges have not been laid upon as police are awaiting the results in the post mortem examination. Charges to be levied is Murder in the first degree.

At approximately 12: 30 p.m., Roberto Marroquin arrived at Molina's home for this midday meal. There he was met by Gregorio who produced a knife and lunged after him. One stab wound on the left rib cage and one puncture wound on the left side of the chest later, he turned his attention to Molina and her four-year-old daughter, who was at home at the time along with her one-year-old brother.

Terrified for her life, Molina jumped out of her house and into the surrounding swampy waters, treading as fast as she could with her daughter in her arms. "Lo mato! Lo mato! (He killed him! He killed him!), she screamed reports neighbors. Continuing with the interview Molina says, "He said he will come back to kill me. He will return. The police need to find him. He will come back and kill me. I have four kids. I need them to find him. I need justice!," she exclaimed.

Molina had lived with Gregorio for over six year and the couple had four children ranging from the ages of one to six. They had been estranged for the past three months and Gregorio did not take care of his children. As of recent, Marroquin, who neighbors describe as a loving man, someone who adored children, offered his assistance to Molina. Marroquin who worked as a construction worker, would buy groceries and food stuff which Molina would cook for him, herself and the children.

The deceased, Roberto Marroquin

The video above shows the area in San Mateo where Molina lives. As shown on the video, officers had a hard task taking the body out of the area. An elaborate network of London bridges are the only roads used by the residents to get to and from their homes.

Dolphins lose to FC Belize, but advances

On Sunday despite the continuous downpours, fans made it out to the Ambergris Stadium for a clash between our boys of the San Pedro Dolphins and the Football Club of Belize (FC). This match was a very important game for the Dolphins as they were hanging by a thread in the North zone whilst not too far behind were Juventus and Hankook Verdes gunning for a spot in the second round. With several attempts and opprotunities at goal, all were futile except at minute 84 when Leon Cadle broke away from the pack and fired the game winning shot that landed in the net. After the sound of the final whistle, FC Belize collected a big 'W' and continued their flawless season record at the Number one spot. More details of this story in this week's issue of The San Pedro Sun Newspaper.

One of Gabriel Hicks' attempt at goal.

FC Belize's defense stood strong
Marlon Mesa on the pressFC's Leon Cadle with an attempt

Fire devastates home of 7 families

In an unfortunate tale, seven families were left without a home on Saturday night as their home, a three storey building was burned to the ground. Proprietor of the house, Secundino Gonzalez told The Sun that the fire broke out from the middle apartment on the second floor. The tenants claim they turned on their stove and an apparent gas leak ignited the blaze. Fire personnel responded swiftly but the fire spread rapidly engulfing everything on its way. More on this story in Thursday's Edition of The San Pedro Sun Newspaper.

Owner, Secundino Gonzalez

Channel 7 reporter snags award

7NEWS reporter and colleague, Keith Swift, will in the month of November travel to Barbados. This trip will provide Swift with regional recognition as he will proudly receive a Sagicor Award. The Sagicor Awards recognize the efforts made by reporters to bring to light issues such as non-chronic communicable diseases. Channel 7 reports that, Keith won the award for a story he and camera man, Alex Ellis, did in September of 2007 about the plight of the then four-year-old Doris Staine. Doris was born with spina bifida – a disorder of the spinal cord which prevented her from walking. Doris had graduated from pre-school and was looking forward to primary school but three schools rejected her because of her condition.

Keith Swift will also receive a certificate of merit from UNICEF.