Police eye robbery in Cadiz woman’s death

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Police are investigating robbery as a possible motive in the killing of a 38-year-old woman whose body was found near a waiting shed in Sitio Capayas, Barangay Sicaba, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, on Friday.

Police withheld the victim’s name pending the result of an examination for suspected sexual abuse.

Police Lt. Daleen Grace Loreno, deputy chief of the Cadiz City Police Station, said the victim and her husband were supposed to go to a lending firm that day.

Loreno said the husband left his wife at the waiting shed around noon while he had their motorcycle refueled and repaired.

When he returned to fetch her, he no longer saw her at the waiting shed.

He initially assumed that his wife had gone ahead to the lending firm.

But when he arrived at the firm, he did not find his wife there, prompting him to look for her.

Four hours later, he found her lifeless, half-naked body in a grassy vacant lot near the waiting shed where he had last seen her alive.

Loreno said the victim suffered an eye injury after being hit with a young coconut, while her sling bag was found wrapped around her neck.

She said the victim died of asphyxia by strangulation.

Loreno said investigators believe the victim was dragged from the waiting shed to the area where her body was found.

Police also found that PHP 150 in her wallet was missing.

Loreno said the unidentified suspect may have learned that the victim was supposed to get money that day and may have assumed she already had the cash when he saw an opportunity to attack her.

Police have identified a person of interest, who was placed under police custody for safekeeping and further investigation.

Loreno said investigators still need a witness to confirm the suspect’s identity and determine if other persons were involved.

A cigarette butt and a black T-shirt were also recovered from the crime scene, police said.