MANILA, Philippines - A woman, reportedly missing since Tuesday, was found dead in the trunk of her own car in Camarin, Caloocan City Wednesday afternoon.
The body of Marilou Jorge, 49, a retired private firm employee, was emitting a foul odor when it was discovered in the trunk of her gold Honda Civic (CTF-103), parked a few blocks away from her house in North Matrix Ville Subdivision in Barangay 177 at around 5 p.m., city police chief Senior Superintendent Rimas Calixto said.
Her body was found after village officials Melchor Gomez and Preciouso Cabuquit checked reports of a vehicle abandoned in the area when residents complained of an unpleasant smell coming from it and flies were seen hovering near its trunk.
“The vehicle’s door were all locked when we arrived, so I called for a locksmith to open it and we found the victim’s body in the back compartment, her hands bound at the back with wires and her head covered with a plastic bag,” Chief Inspector Ronald Perilla, Caloocan City police North Extension Office investigation head, told The STAR.
He said the victim bore bruises on the head and face but bore “no visible fatal injuries.”
Perilla said one of the witnesses, identified only as Minda, told them that she noticed the victim’s car parked along a street in the subdivision at around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
“We are still digging deeper into the case. According to the victim’s husband, Jorge Jose Jorge, he left their house at around 5:30 a.m. that same day for work with their daughter. The time element puzzles us,” Perilla said.
Perilla said Jose, a manager of a private firm, told them he and their daughter left his wife and their 16-year-old son in the house. He said when he returned home, his wife was gone, along with the car. Jose said he tried to contact her cell phone, but she would not answer. He claimed he learned of her death when Marilou’s body was found the following day.
“The husband said that the wire used in tying his wife’s hands was taken from his tool box in their house,” Perilla said.
Marilou was clad in her nightdress but without a bra when her body was found inside the car’s compartment. Perilla said they were still trying to coordinate with the victim’s husband and children to gather more information about the case.
Calixto directed city police investigation head Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano to conduct a parallel investigation into the case.