Body of missing mountaineer found in Rizal

MANILA, Philippines – The body of the mountaineer who had been missing since Saturday was found in Rodriguez, Rizal, a police official said Wednesday.

Superintendent Rommel Estolano, Rodriguez police chief, said the decomposing body of Adrian Alba, 25, a resident of Barangay (village) Rizal, Makati, was found by a village watchman at around 6 a.m. Wednesday near the hanging bridge in Barangay (village) San Rafael, five kilometers from Sitio Kayrupa where he was last seen.

Scene of the Crime Operatives were deployed to recover the body, Estolano said.

The victim, who was found half-naked, wearing boxer shorts, was pinned by a huge stone, said Estolano.

Alba was with 23 other mountaineers who had secured permission from local tourism officials for the basic mountaineering course in Wawa Dam in Sitio (sub-village) Wawa, Barangay Rafael, Estolano said in earlier reports.

However, the team proceeded to the upper portion of the Montalban River, some 1.5 kilometers from Sitio Wawa without informing local village and tourism officials, he said.

The mountaineers were crossing the river with a rope when Alba lost his grip and was immediately swept away by the current at around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and had since gone missing.

“We are still coordinating with relatives of the victim and the members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives before an autopsy is carried out,” he said.

The autopsy, he said, would ascertain that there was no foul play involved.

Television reports said Alba was a hotel and restaurant management (HRM) student who was supposed to graduate this year.

First posted 9:15 am | Wednesday, September 7th, 2011