Cop linked to missing beauty queen released from police custody

Police Regional Office 4A Director Brig Gen. Kenneth Lucas says during a press conference on Thursday, January 18, 2024, that Major Allan De Castro was dismissed from service effective January 16, 2024. De Castro is being considered as one of the suspects in the disappearance of beauty queen Catherine Camilon. Image: Facebook/Catherine Camilon

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed police Major Allan De Castro, the primary suspect in the case of missing beauty queen Catherine Camilon, has been released from the restrictive custody of the Police Regional Office (PRO) – 4A headquarters following his dismissal from service.

“He has been released from our custody, kumbaga wala na sya (he already left), still the criminal case will be pursued by the Philippine National Police (PNP),” chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said in a press conference on Monday.

Reports said that De Castro was placed under the custody of PRO-4A on October 26 last year in relation to the administrative case filed against him.

READ: Cop, 3 others sued for kidnapping over beauty queen’s disappearance

When asked if PNP will continue to monitor De Castro for security purposes, Acorda said that “it is part of their ongoing efforts.”

In a media forum last week, PRO 4A director Brig. Gen. Kenneth Lucas announced De Castro’s discharge from police service, which took effect on January 16.

“The case against Police Major De Castro stemmed from allegations of conduct unbecoming of a police officer after a series of thorough investigations by the RIAS4A uncovering evidence of an illicit and extramarital affair between the respondent and the missing Catherine Camilon,” Lucas detailed.

In November last year, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director, Major General Romeo Caramat, said De Castro admitted to having a relationship with Camilon.

But despite the officer’s revelation, Caramat said that De Castro remained silent when it came to matters related to the beauty queen’s disappearance.

Before De Castro’s revelation, PNP said two witnesses claiming that they saw three men allegedly transferring the body of Camilon to another vehicle surfaced after the police asked the public for help.

It added that CIDG operatives recovered an abandoned car similar to the witnesses’ description in a vacant lot along the corner of Dumuclay Road and Star Tollway in Barangay Pallocan East on November 9.

The car with no license plate was taken to Camp General Miguel C. Malvar in Batangas City for a forensic examination. Examination results showed that the DNA of the hair strands recovered in the red Honda CRV matched Camilon’s parents’ DNA.

Meanwhile, Region 4-A’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deputy Maj. Nilo Morallos earlier revealed that Camilon may already be dead based on the accounts of their witnesses.

Based on police reports, the Miss Grand Philippines 2023 candidate was reported missing by her mother and sister days after she allegedly disappeared while traveling from Tuy to Batangas City on October 12, 2023.

The beauty queen’s mother, Rosario, last contacted her daughter around 8:33 p.m. on the same day.