NAGA CITY—The search for the officer of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) who went missing on March 8 ended on Wednesday with the discovery of her body decomposing inside the trunk of a car parked outside a hotel here.
Her assailant, Eric Medina, also a DILG officer of this city, led police to the body of Ayres O. Napere, a DILG officer assigned to the town of Bombon, Camarines Sur.
Medina led police to the trunk of his car where he hid the body of Napere at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, five days after an intense search for the missing female lawyer.
Napere was killed after she refused to lend money to Medina, who is addicted to online gambling, said Supt. Nilo Berdin, deputy police director of Naga City.
Medina, also a lawyer, was surrounded by policemen when he opened the trunk of his car to reveal the body of Napere hidden in two sacks.
Eye for an eye
Guia O. Alteche, elder sister of Napere, was inconsolable and demanded death, too, for Medina.
Naperes’ husband, Gerald, and Medina’s wife, Sheila, had joined the search for Napere. It was Sheila who reported the disappearance of Napere.
Sheila and Napere were friends since their law school days, according to Superintendent Berdin.
Berdin said Medina confessed to the crime at past 4 p.m. on Wednesday in front of his coworkers at the DILG, who went to the police station to offer their statements.
Medina, according to Berdin, initially denied any role in Napere’s disappearance.
PO2 Jeffrey Roz, investigator assigned to the case, said Medina fetched Napere at her office in Bombon at around 9 a.m. on March 8 to borrow money from Napere.
When Napere refused, Medina stopped the car on a road, telling Napere that the engine malfunctioned. Medina took a nylon cord from the trunk, pretending that he was pulling the car with it.
Medina returned to the driver’s seat and tied Napere with the nylon cord. A witness riding a motorcycle passed by and saw the commotion and the woman who turned out to be Napere.