Pagpapakamatay ni Strunk ayaw i-release ang ebidensiya

Naloloka ang mga pulis sa Tracy, Califor­nia dahil sa mga phone call na natatanggap nila mula sa mga Pili­pino na gustong ma­ ka­siguro kung tala­gang bangkay ni Rod Strunk ang nasa pag-iingat nila.

May update si Da­nielle MacMurchy ng Tracy Press tungkol sa suicide case ng ex-husband ni Mama Nida Blanca.

Heto ang report ni Da­­nielle na may kina­laman sa mga sigu­ris­tang Pinoy. Ang title ng report? Is Tracy’s Strunk the Philippines’ Elvis?

Some people in that country think his death might be greatly ex­aggerated.

City public affairs officer Matt Ro­bin­son’s cell phone has rung off the hook for the past week and a half with Phil­ip­pine-based re­porters who doubt the death of Roger Strunk, 68-year-old Tracy resi­ dent who 3-years ago avoided extradition to the Philippines on charges he hired some­one to kill his movie and television star wife.

Robinson took at least 15 calls from re­porters who asked for an autopsy photo and asked who witnessed the body after Strunk fell from a balcony of the Tracy Inn.

Some Filipinos ques­­ tion Strunk’s death even though para­medics found his body in the parking lot of Tracy Inn. Filipino families usually invite the community to an open-casket wake that lasts for several days and the media has easy access to photos of the dead and funeral services in the country. But, because they haven’t seen proof, they question whe­ther or not Strunk is indeed dead.

“They want to know the updates every day,” Robinson said. “I tell them ˜he’s still dead.”

The news of Strunk’s death is front-page news in the Philippines be­cause many people on the island country be­lieve Strunk murdered his wife, Nida Blanca, a beloved actress.

“They really thought Roger Strunk knew something about the murder that was never really revealed,” said Regina Reyes, North­ern American bureau chief for Filipino news­paper ABS-CBN Inter­national, which re­ported that Strunk did in­­deed die. “Now that he died, it’s like it sparked all the media interest all over again.”

Blanca’s daughter, Kaye Torres, wrote in a press release that she believes Strunk’s al­­leged death is a con­s­­piracy. She is urging Filipino autho­rities to continue to investigate Strunk’s once-sus­pect­ed con­nection with her mother’s death.

“People are asking a lot of personal ques­tions and I really try to be sensitive to the fa­milies,” said Cindy An­geli, ser­geant at the San Joa­quin County Coroner’s office.

She said she re­ceived several calls last week.

Les Garcia, spokes­­man for the San Joa­quin County Sherriffs De­part­ment, said that Strunk’s body was sent to a toxicology lab to test if Strunk had any drugs or poison before he died.

The cause of his death won’t be re­solved for at least six more weeks, he added.

A memorial service is planned for Friday at Good Shepherd Com­munity Church, 306 W. Eaton Ave.