Barcode leads to person of interest in case of woman’s body found inside box

Authorities have used a bar code to identify a person of interest in the killing of a 38-year-old woman, whose body was found inside a storage box that was loaded inside a bus.

According to John Consulta’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” the storage box was loaded as cargo inside a bus in Calamba, Laguna past 9 p.m. on January 1.

The man who loaded the storage box declared that it contained tools.

Authorities traced the whereabouts and identity of the man via a bar code on the adhesive tape used in sealing the box.

CCTV caught the man buying the tape at an establishment past 6 p.m., three hours before another CCTV caught him at the bus station.

The box containing the victim’s body was later found under the Pinagwarasan Bridge in Basud, Camarines Norte.

According to her mother, the person of interest is the victim’s live-in partner.

Authorities found a broken glass bottle inside the apartment where the victim and her partner stayed. They said this could be where the victim was killed, and her body placed inside a plastic storage box.

Investigators floated the possibility that the killing was a crime of passion, since the suspect was allegedly prone to jealousy.

A computerized composite depicting a man who resembled the person of interest was presented to witnesses, but he was not the individual being sought.

Police said a hot pursuit operation is ongoing, as they have identified the person of interest and they have a lead as to his possible location.

The victim’s mother said the man admitted that he killed her daughter and surrendered to the victim’s sibling.

She added she last talked to her daughter on the afternoon of January 1, and the victim told her that she had a misunderstanding with her live-in partner.

The mother further said she only knew that the victim would go to her cousin the night before she went missing.

The victim’s family is seeking help to bring the victim’s remains to Camiguin, her home province. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated New