Twenty-three-year-old Jezel Anne Gonzales has just finished her hospitality management degree and was supposed to graduate in July 2025. Instead, her family will lay her to rest after she was raped and killed in her own home in Barangay Pugaro, Dagupan City.

No less than her mother found her lifeless body around 6 p.m. on June 24, 2025 at their old house. She was lying face-down on the floor, wrapped in a blanket.

“Hinablot ko ‘yung kumot. ‘Bakit hindi ka gumigising?’ Ang nakita ko, ‘yung kamay, nakaganun na,” the mother, Maria, said.

She said her daughter’s face looked swollen and her hair was messy.

Police found injuries on Jezel’s lips and neck, suggesting signs of struggle. They said it is possible that she may have been punched and strangled before she was raped.

Days later, an autopsy confirmed this theory.

“Maaaring sinuntok muna and then tinakpan ‘yung bunganga o kaya’y sinakal saka siya ginahasa,” PCpt. Joy Salvador of the Dagupan City Police Station, said.

Investigators have since returned to the crime scene and are working closely with barangay officials to identify the suspects.

Despite the family living near one another, no one heard any noise from where Jezel was staying at the time the crime took place.

“Tutulong sa pagkuhan ng impormasyon kung ano ang dapat namin gawin... para makatulong kami sa namatayan,” Barangay Councilman Robert Lamsen, Chairperson of the Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, said.

Jezel will be laid to rest on July 17, 2025 when relatives arrive from overseas.

Her mother is calling for justice and has offered a reward for any information that could lead to the suspect's arrest.

“Gusto ko po hustisya. Mahuli ‘yung taong gumawa,” Maria said.

Jezel’s remains have been cremated and her ashes lie at home surrounded by unanswered questions and the hopes of justice from a heartbroken family.