Woman asks police help on missing Aussie fiancé

A Cebuano woman yesterday reported to the City Police Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch that her 43-year-old Australian fiancé has been missing since Monday.

Ardelyn Mahinay Maloloy-on asked the police for help to locate her fiancé Craig Peter Chatwin, a native of Melbourne, Australia, who arrived in Cebu last November 1 supposedly to prepare for their marriage on January next year.

From the airport, Chatwin was with Maloloy-on and they checked into Richmond Hotel along F. Sotto Drive in Cebu City.

There was no unusual thing that Maloloy-on had noticed until November 6 when Chatwin asked permission from her that he would go to Marriott Hotel, purportedly for a job interview.

Through this time, the two communicated via text messages in their cellphones but the last time was when Chatwin texted her that he was done with the interview and that he would be going to the Australian Trade Commission.

That was the last time Maloloy-on heard of Chatwin until yesterday. The woman, who has been left at the hotel since, told the police that she did not know where the office of that commission was located.

Chatwin did not text Maloloy-on after that last text message, and she said that if she would call or text him, the man's cellphone would just be ringing and there would be no answer whatsoever. This prompted her to report the matter to the police for help.

According to the woman, she had suspicions that a certain Percy, of Mandaue City, might be "hiding" Chatwin from her.

She recalled Chatwin telling her that he met this "Percy" on the plane he took from Sydney, Australia to Cebu, and that they became friends.

"Percy" had introduced himself as a businessman selling food supplements in the United States with an American business partner. Maloloy-on however did not know what "Percy" was doing in Sydney and why he came to Cebu.

She added that she knew "Percy" had Chatwin's (phone) number. - Norvie S. Misa