Stolen urn of Pinay banker returned to family

The stolen urn containing the ashes of the Filipina banker whose body was found buried in a basement in America was finally returned to her family's mausoleum in Parañaque on Wednesday afternoon.

Southern Police District director Chief Superintendent Tomas Apolinario said he personally returned the urn to the family of Maria Pilar "Pipie" Cruz to her family's mausoleum at the Manila Memorial Park around 1 p.m..

LOOK: The urn containing the ashes of Maria Pilar “Pipie” Cruz which was stolen earlier this month has been returned to her family. (????: SPD) | via @marllybondoc pic.twitter.com/bG5aTu1b4G

— GMA News (@gmanews) March 28, 2018

The urn was returned to the custody of the SPD on Tuesday night after they received information from an anonymous caller who expressed desire to surrender it. Apolinario said the urn was sold by the robbery suspect, Dionesio Layson, for P1,900.

The 30-year-old Layson, who was identified as a former caretaker at the Manila Memorial Park, was arrested by the Parañaque police last March 10 and is facing a robbery case.

Cruz, an investment banker based in New York, had been missing for 10 months before her body was found in February 2004.

The 35-year-old died in the hands of a fake doctor, Dean Faiello after seeking medical help for a cyst in her tongue. During the operation, Cruz had a seizure and died. Faiello then hid her body in a large suitcase at the basement of his home in Newark, New Jersey.

Cruz was cremated in the US before she was laid to rest at her family's mausoleum at Manila Memorial Park in 2006.

Faiello, who had no medical degree nor a license to practice medicine, was arrested at a resort in Costa Rica where he fled to avoid being arrested. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. — RSJ, GMA News