Police looking at persons of interest after woman found dead inside a luggage

Police said they have already identified persons of interest in the possible killing of a woman whose body was found inside a luggage floating in a river in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

The victim, who had been reported missing in North Caloocan for almost a week, was found dead on Thursday, February 13.

PCMS Adrian Nolasco, station commander of SJDM Police Community Precinct 2, said they received a complaint about the stench of the suitcase floating along the Sapang Alat River, which sits at the boundary of North Caloocan and Bulacan.

“Nakita namin ‘yung isang slightly opened na maleta and visible po roon na may bangkay sa loob. Naka-fetal position siya, and intact naman ‘yung damit niya. Ayun nga lang po, medyo bloated na sa pagkakababad sa tubig,” Nolasco said.

(We saw a slightly opened suitcase, and a dead body was visible inside. The body was in a fetal position, and her clothes were intact. But her body was slightly bloated from being submerged in water.)

He said the victim, who is a minor, also had wounds on her body.

Police are looking into the possibility of the suitcase being carried by the current from North Caloocan to the part of the river within the scope of SJMP, Bulacan.

“Sunod-sunod ‘yung ulan. Dahil ilog nga ‘yon, hindi natin masasabi kung inanod ba pero may possibility na doon din talaga,” SJMP police case investigator PSSg. Patrick Llanza said.

CCTV footage

Retracing the victim’s last known location, her family said she had asked permission to go to a friend’s house on February 7.

“Tawag nang tawag ‘yung last niyang kausap na kaibigan na pinipilit siyang sunduin ‘yung kaibigan kasi, ano po, binubugbog daw po ng asawa,” the victim’s sibling said.

(The friend that she last talked to kept calling to force her to fetch the friend who was being abused by her husband.)

CCTV footage also captured the victim seemingly hesitant to go to her friend’s house.

“Mamaya, ako pa ang anuhin niyan. Namumuro na ako sa asawa mo,” the victim was heard saying.

(Your husband might do something to me later. He’s had enough of me.)

A separate CCTV clip also captured the victim walking to her friend’s house in North Caloocan that night.

“Simula noon, hindi na po siya nagparamdam. Wala na rin po yung account niya. Hindi na po ma-contact ‘yung cellphone niya,” said the victim’s sibling.

(From then on, we didn’t hear from her. Her account is gone, and we couldn’t contact her cellphone.)

After a few days of going back and forth to find the victim, her family officially reported her missing on Monday, February 10.

But, the victim’s sibling said, the next time they saw her, she was lifeless and crammed inside the suitcase.

“Sobrang grabe. Nakita ko yung itsura ng katawan ng kapatid ko. May butas ‘yung leeg. Tapos ano ‘yung mukha niya, hindi ko na halos makilala. ‘Yung shorts na gamit ng kapatid ko na naging shorts ko na rin po, ayun po yung shorts na nakita ko sa may bangkay na natagpuan sa ilog,” she recalled.

(It was all too much. I saw how my sister’s body looked. She had a hole in her neck. And I almost couldn’t recognize her face. My sister’s pair of shorts, which are also mine, is the same pair the corpse found in the river was wearing.)

--VAL, GMA Integrated News