Female cop found dead at Crame crime lab
MANILA, Philippines—Insp. Romelou Medina replaced the solo portrait of herself that had served as the profile picture of her Facebook account early Thursday with one showing her in a romantic moment with her husband Nelson. She also posted a photo of their five children.
Four-and-a-half hours later, the 35-year-old rising police officer, still clad in her blue police uniform, was found dead inside Crime Laboratory of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame in Quezon City, with a bullet wound on her right temple.
Medina had apparently committed suicide with her official issue 9-mm service pistol, according to Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor, spokesperson of PNP Director General Alan Purisima.
He said Medina, a resident of Rodriguez, Rizal, was found by PO1 Rhea Dimaano lying on the floor of the CrimeLab’s finance section at around 7:30 a.m.
Beside the body was her pistol and a bullet shell, Mayor said.
A check of Facebook account showed that she replaced her profile picture and posted the photo of her children around 3 a.m.
“We are still investigating what really happened. As of now, we cannot conclude yet if this was really a case of suicide or not,” Mayor told the Inquirer.
Mayor said Medina’s husband Nelson, a security guard, rushed to Camp Crame upon learning of his wife’s death, but did not give investigators any information to show if she had any reason to take her own life.
Chief Supt. Liza Sabong, CrimeLab chief, said she and her subordinates were shocked, saying Medina had been promoted to the junior officer rank only last year.
Sabong declined to comment further in light of the ongoing investigation.
She said they were still checking if Medina, who was undergoing training on crime scene investigation and had been assigned to the CrimeLab unit of the Manila Police District, was on duty at the time.
Medina, a mother of five, joined the police service as Police Officer 1 in December 2003, Sabong said.
“She rose from the ranks. Even if she was off duty, she usually dropped by the office to finish some documents regarding her job in the finance section of CrimeLab,” Sabong said.
“Her death really saddens us. But we have to accept the reality that things like this happen,” she added.
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