Two tourists found dead in Boracay hotel room – police

FILE PHOTO: Boracay Island has reopened anew to tourists starting September 16, 2021, as restrictions were eased both in Aklan province and in Metro Manila, its main market of leisure travelers. —JACK JARILLA

ILOILO CITY — Two tourists, including an Australian national, were found dead in their hotel room on Boracay Island on Monday, March 21.

The tourists identified as Dennis Yu, 44, and Maria Cecilia Jellicode had injuries that indicated that their deaths were not due to natural causes, according to an initial investigation by the Malay, Aklan police station.

Yu is a Filipino based on his identification card while Jellicode had an Australian passport.

Lt. Col. Don Dicksie De Dios, Malay police chief, said they are still waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of death of the couple.

But he said there were no indications that a third person had entered the room based on security camera footage and other security records.

“Their belongings, including cash, jewelry, laptop computers, and cellphones are intact,” De Dios told the INQUIRER in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

He declined to provide additional information as their investigation is ongoing.

The bodies of the couple were found near each other on the floor inside their room at a hotel in Barangay Balabag around noon on Monday after a hotel staff checked on them due to their scheduled check-out time.

They arrived on the island on March 13 and had apparently extended their stay and were supposed to check out on Monday, according to De Dios.

The couple were seen having breakfast on Sunday and there were no indications of anything abnormal, De Dios said, citing accounts of witnesses.

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