LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines – The wife of a telecommunications company executive had been dead for days from blows to the head when her body was recovered in Biñan City, Laguna, on Sunday, the police said Monday.
Results of the autopsy by the police crime laboratory showed that the remains of Gloria Gonzales, 47, were already in a “state of advanced decomposition” when discovered inside her own vehicle.
Judging from the odor and fluids that had secreted from the body of Gonzales, she had been dead “for more than 72 hours” when her remains were found, according to Supt. Roy Camarillo, chief of the police medico legal in the Southern Tagalog region.
Gonzales, who sold jewelry as a business, was reported missing by her husband John Gonzales, who is vice president and head of corporation relationship management of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. She was last seen alive on June 25 when she left their home in Parañaque City on board her Toyota Innova.
On Sunday, the Innova was recovered in Barangay San Vicente in Biñan City. The body of Gonzales was inside. It was covered with a blanket. The whole face was wrapped in duct tape, except for the eyes.
Camarillo said the victim suffered three fatal blows to the head from a blunt object. She also must have had a difficulty in breathing as shown in the trachea, he added.
Gonzales was identified by her family based on the vehicle and the clothes she was wearing.
In a separate phone interview Monday, Binan City police chief Supt. Noel Aliṅo said it was still not clear if Gonzales carried cash or jewelry before she went missing.
Aliṅo said the husband told them that Gonzales was supposed to meet someone in Cavite the day she left their home but did not know who it was.