Foul play still considered in Bree Jonson's death —police

Authorities are not yet completely ruling out foul play in the death of Bree Jonson, who was found lifeless in a La Union beach resort over the weekend, the Police Regional Office 1 (PRO1) chief said Wednesday.

"Medyo mataas lang 'yung percentage na wala siyang foul play, pero hindi pa natin totally niru-rule out 100 percent na walang foul play," Police Regional Office 1 (PRO1) director Police Brigadier General Emmanuel Peralta said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

"The percentage that foul play was not committed was quite high, but we are not ruling it out 100 percent.)

As the investigation continues, Peralta said they have yet to interview individuals who were with Jonson prior to the incident.

Police also have yet to wait for the results of the histopathological examination on Jonson.

"Ang pulso ng ating imbestigasyon, ay nakikita natin na parang walang foul play. Mga indicator, walang signs of struggle on the both the victim and the boyfriend," Peralta said.

(So far, our investigation seems to indicate that there was no foul play. As for indicators, there were no signs of struggle on both the victim and the boyfriend.)

Peralta said CCTV footage showed Jonson and her companion Julian Ongpin were drinking.

According to Peralta, SOCO personnel did not find any rope or any other material that would indicate Jonson committed suicide.

Peralta said Ongpin was "fully cooperating" when he was invited on Tuesday to have his markings be examined by authorities.

Peralta earlier on Wednesday said initial findings of the autopsy on Jonson showed that her cause of death was asphyxia or lack of oxygen in the body that may lead to death.

Peralta said that the initial findings also showed that Jonson was positive for cocaine use.

Ongpin, who tested positive for cocaine use, has been tagged as a person of interest. He was detained but later released by the prosecutor in La Union.

Impartial probe

As this developed,  PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar assured the public that the investigation into Jonson's would be impartial, adding he would personally check on the development of the case.

“Amid the speculations regarding this case, we appeal to our kababayan to wait for the result of the investigation as we commit that we will continue to update you on the progress of the investigation,” he said in a statement.

“At the same time, we assure our kababayan of fairness in the conduct of the investigation in the interest of truth and justice.”

Earlier, the Department of Justice ordered the Bureau of Immigration to be on the lookout for Ongpin, who was tagged as a person of interest in Jonson's death, according to  BI Commissioner Jaime Morente. —LBG/KBK, GMA News