By LIEZLE BASA IÑIGO
The missing son of slain Police Senior Master Sergeant (PSMS) Dianne Marie Gabres Mollenido was found dead in a calamansi farm in Barangay Maluid, Victoria, Tarlac, police confirmed on Friday, Jan. 30.
The body of eight-year-old John Ysmael was discovered on Thursday, Jan. 29, at around 2:50 p.m. by a resident harvesting fruit in the farm owned by Barangay Captain Sandy Torres. Authorities were alerted at about 4 p.m.
The boy’s body, wrapped with plastic tape, was found lying on a grassy area. His father, Police Master Sergeant (PMSg) John L. Mollenido, identified him at the morgue at around 12:30 a.m.
Initial findings showed signs consistent with suffocation.
The remains were brought to a funeral parlor and later transferred to the morgue for medico‑legal examination.
Police Major Marty A. Calara, chief of the Victoria Municipal Police Station, said the area was cordoned off and processed by forensic probers.
Authorities are now coordinating with counterparts to determine possible links between the boy’s death and the killing of his mother.
The boy’s mother, PSMS Mollenido, was found dead on Jan. in a creek along the Pulilan‑Baliuag Bypass Road in Bulacan. Her body was wrapped in cloth and plastic and later identified by her husband.
Mollenido, assigned to the Regional Personnel and Records Management Division (RPRMD) of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), had been reported missing on Jan. 19 along with her son.
Investigators traced her last known movements to Novaliches, Quezon City, where she went to sell her Toyota Innova.
The transaction was facilitated by her godchild, Pia, who later appeared at a police station claiming the sale was completed.
CCTV footage showed a white Toyota Avanza passing the area, but it remains unclear if Mollenido and her son boarded the vehicle.
Pia’s husband, Christian, a former police officer dismissed for being Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL), has also drawn investigators’ attention.
Pia has been considered a person of interest, police said. (with a report From Freddie Velez)
