Police are investigating the gruesome death of a female caregiver whose body was found floating in the seawaters off Barangay 99-Diit, Tacloban City, on Monday morning, August 4 — five days after she was kidnapped in Ormoc City .
A fisherman from Brgy. 94-Tigbao found the victim’s body partially submerged in the water.
Authorities described the body as bloated, unclothed, with protruding tongue and bulging eyes. The neck, hands, and feet were tightly bound with what appeared to be a single hammock rope.
A black cloth covered her face, which was wrapped with blue duct tape.
She had tattoos on the right side of the abdominal area and the upper and lower back near the buttocks.
According to her sister, the victim — a single mother who worked as a caregiver — was abducted by three unidentified armed men wearing black pants, sweatshirts, and black bonnets at about 9 a.m. on July 31 near a pawnshop in Barangay Valencia, Ormoc City.
The victim was forced into a black hatchback that fled towards the direction of Kananga, Leyte.
Her remains have been referred to the Regional Forensic Unit 8 for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Police Brig. Gen. Jay Cumigad, Police Regional Office-8 chief, said that they are exploring all leads and working closely with other agencies to uncover the circumstances surrounding the killing.
The Ormoc City Police Office condoled with the family of the victim.
“We express our deepest sympathies to the victim’s family in this moment of unimaginable grief. Rest assured, the Ormoc City Police Office, in close coordination with the Tacloban City Police, will exhaust all means to identify, locate, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Police Lt. Col. Joel Camacho, Ormoc police chief, said.
