Fisherman catches human arm in Marikina River

MANILA, Philippines – After hauling his net in, a man fishing in the Marikina River found he had caught not only some fish but a whole human arm, police said Thursday.

Police said Ariel De Guzman, a resident of Barangay (village) Nangka in Marikina City, caught the arm around 10 a.m. on Wednesday after he had gone to the Quezon City side of the river to fish with the use of a net near Vista Real Classica Subdivision in Barangay Batasan Hills.

Senior Police Officer 1 Pascual Fabreag of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said De Guzman initially reported his “catch” to officials in Barangay Nangka in Marikina City.

Fabreag said that when De Guzman found it, the arm was wrapped in a garbage bag and was already decomposing.

“It was hard to tell if it was a right or left arm because of its condition,” Fabreag told the Inquirer, adding that the arm had been lopped off from the shoulder. He pointed out that it was also hard to tell if the limb’s owner was male or female, saying that it had to be tested by the Crime Laboratory Service.

Fabreag theorized that the arm could be one of many body parts of a slay victim who had been chopped up and thrown in the river. “But until other body parts turn up or we receive a report of a body missing an arm, it is just a possibility,” he said.

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