Angeles Mayor offers P100,000 for info on missing couple

Geneva Lopez, a Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2024 candidate, and her boyfriend, Yitchak Cohen. —photo from Presy Carreon Lopez Facebook

ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. on Tuesday offered a P100,000 reward for any information that would help authorities find beauty pageant candidate Geneva Lopez and her boyfriend, who have been missing for almost two weeks.

Lopez, a former Mutya ng Pilipinas 2024 candidate who represented Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, has been missing since June 21 with Israeli boyfriend Yitshak Cohen. They were reportedly on their way to Capas, Tarlac, to check on a property when reported missing.

The amount offered by Lazatin came after Lopez’s family earlier put up a P250,000 reward as they searched for their kin.

READ: P250,000 reward offered for info on missing pageant bet, boyfriend

Meanwhile, Fire Senior Inspector Rustico Tayag Jr., Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) chief in Capas, told the Inquirer on Tuesday that the debris from the burned sport utility vehicle (SUV) submitted to the BFP national headquarters in Quezon City on June 22 yielded negative of flammable substances.

The torched gray Nissan Terra vehicle was reportedly used by Lopez, 27, and Cohen, 37, on the day they disappeared.

READ: Another vehicle linked to missing pageant candidate case found in Tarlac

“We are still waiting for the result of the electrical analysis, which was also submitted to the BFP national office on June 22,” Tayag said.

Chemical analysis

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said a vehicle that accompanied the couple in visiting an upland agricultural land at Barangay Armenia in Tarlac City, that Lopez was planning to buy, was found abandoned in Tibag village, some 7 kilometers away from Armenia.

Tayag said that on June 28, they again collected debris from the burned SUV and sent them to the BFP headquarters for another chemical analysis.

“The first [set of] debris was from the driver’s side and under the steering wheel. Last Friday, we collected debris from the front passenger’s side and under the radiator. Hopefully, we can have the laboratory test result within this week,” he said.

In a separate phone interview on Tuesday, Capas police chief Lt. Col. Librado Manarang said the owner of the burned Nissan Terra had not reported to the town’s police station to shed light on why Lopez and Cohen were using his vehicle on the day they went missing. He said the SUV’s registered owner, a resident of Bulacan, had told the Capas police that he would go to the municipal police station but failed to show up.

“The last time we were able to communicate with him and his lawyer, we were told that they would come here either yesterday, Monday or today (Tuesday). Until now we are still waiting for him,” he said.

Police have yet to disclose the name of the abandoned vehicle’s registered owner.

The Angeles City police said Lopez and Cohen left their house in Malabanias village around 1:20 p.m. on June 21 to meet with a middleman for a 20.5-hectare land that Lopez was buying in Tarlac City.

On June 22, some 10 hours after the couple and the middleman parted ways, the vehicle used by the couple was seen burning along Cojuangco Road in Barangay Cristo Rey. Oddly, the vehicle was facing north of the road’s lane toward Armenia.

“If it was traveling back to Angeles City, it should be on the other side of the road, facing south,” Manarang said.