National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago confirmed that the bodies discovered in Capas, Tarlac, are those of missing beauty pageant contestant Geneva Lopez and her Israeli fiancé Yitzhak Cohen, according to a Saturday evening tweet by GMA Integrated News’ Jonathan Andal.
Authorities unearthed the cadavers in a vacant lot within a quarry site in Capas town earlier in the day.
According to Santiago, the bodies were taken for an autopsy and a DNA test.
The search for the victims was launched after the Tarlac City Regional Trial Court Branch 111 issued a warrant dated July 5, 2024.
GMA Integrated News has reached out to the Lopez and Cohen families about the matter.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos told Super Radyo dzBB that the two suspects, police officers who took absences without leave, are now under police custody.
“Noong sila’y nahuli at napakaraming mga baril ang nahuli sa mga ito, may detalye at testigo na naturo pa itong lugar kung saan inilibing itong dalawang bangkay,” he added.
(When they were caught, a lot of guns were retrieved from them; there was a detail and a witness that revealed the place where these two cadavers were buried.)
Abalos said the suspects were possibly involved in the deaths of the victims.
“Malamang may kinalaman ito (They’re probably involved),” he said, adding that there are other people “under investigation.”
The couple was last seen on June 21 when they drove to Capas to check on the property they were planning to purchase.
Their SUV was later seen burning the next day along a road in Capas with no sign of its occupants.
Lopez’s family confirmed that the charred items, including an ID card, belongs to the Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2024 contestant.
On June 27, Cohen’s family announced a P250,000 reward for information leading to the couple’s whereabouts. — Vince Angelo Ferreras/DVM/VBL, GMA Integrated News
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