Special task force to probe burning of 2 people in Danao

CEBU, Philippines - A special investigation task force was created to handle the case in Danao City where two charred bodies, believed to be those of Korean nationals, were recently found.

Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, director of Cebu Provincial Police Office, said he will lead the task force that will comprise of members of the Highway Patrol Group, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Crime Laboratory, and Danao City Police Station.

Gillamac said they are still working on the identification of the two bodies, a man and a woman that were found inside a burned car in Barangay Sabang, Danao City last November 12.

Gillamac said they learned from the Korean community that there are two Korean nationals in Cebu that have gone missing around the same time the incident also happened.

"But as of now, di pa gyud nato ma-confirm if sila ba gyud ni," he said.

The CPPO director further said he has spoken with the Korean Consul and agreed to get DNA samples from the relatives of the missing Koreans, whose names are being withheld pending confirmation of their identities.

Police were prompted to investigate the involvement of Koreans after finding out that the burned car was a Hyundai Santa Fe, which is a Korean vehicle.

The task force was also able to trace the owner of the Hyundai Santa Fe, Jennifer Veloso, who claimed that the two Koreans were the last to use the said car.

Veloso, Gillamac said, is married to a Korean national. The couple, as well as the two Korean victims, was engaged in surplus business.

"It's a double-cross, business-related or personal," he said.

The task force also requested the Consul to get background information of both victims, added Gillamac.

Danao City Police chief Elmer Lim said they have yet to establish also how the two victims were killed.

The autopsy earlier conducted on the cadavers revealed both the gender but as to determining the cause of death, it is reportedly impossible as the bodies were totally burned.

What's possible, Lim said, was that the victims were killed somewhere else and their bodies were dumped and burned in Danao City. — (FREEMAN)