Abducted Lipa trader found dead

LIPA CITY, Batangas — The body of a businessman, who was abducted along the national highway here Monday night, was found inside an abandoned van at the Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila.

The Taguig police traced the family of victim Jesus Changcoco here when they found inside the van a gas receipt issued in Lipa City.

Police said Changcoco’s body bore signs of torture, with a rope still tied around his neck when they found him. He had a gunshot wound in the thigh and a scar on the forehead.

Changcoco’s wife Josie said her husband left their car airconditioning service shop at the Ayala H-way here between 8 and 8:30 p.m. last Monday but failed to arrive at their house in Barangay Sabang.

At about 11 the following morning, Changcoco called up his wife through her cellphone and said, "Ma, hindi ko alam kung nasaan ako, nakapiring ang mata ko, kausapin mo na lang sila (Ma, I don’t know where I am. I’m blindfolded, just talk to them)."

The man on the other line, Mrs. Changcoco said, demanded P1 million but added that the ransom was still negotiable with his boss.

At about 12:30 p.m. that day, the "boss" called up Mrs. Changcoco to say that her husband had allegedly ordered 14 units of second-hand imported cars worth P200,000 from him which he (Changcoco) failed to pay.

The man said Changcoco also owed him P1 million and demanded that the Changcocos produce the amount before 5 p.m. The man never called back.

Mrs. Changcoco denied any knowledge of the supposed transaction but admitted that her husband usually acted as guarantor to his friends who were also buying second-hand vehicles in Apalit, Pampanga.