OLONGAPO CITY—Mayor Rolen Paulino has ordered a hunt for a Filipino-American suspected to be behind the murder of a woman whose body was found in a dike in San Felipe, Zambales province, last week.
Police said the victim, Karie Ces “Aika” Mojica, 23, of Barangay Sta. Rita here and an employee of a local supermarket, was reported missing on Friday.
Authorities have tagged Jonathan Dewayne Ciocon Viane, 29, a Filipino-American, as primary suspect in the killing, citing accounts of witnesses.
Police in San Felipe town on Monday filed in the Zambales prosecutor’s office a murder complaint against Viane and another man.
‘Partly burnt’ body
Mojica’s body was found by local residents in a portion of the Sto. Tomas river dike at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Police described the body as “partly burnt” and her hands tied with a black plastic strap. Recovered from the area were three empty shells from a 9-mm pistol.
A witness told police that Mojica met Viane at a gasoline station in the city before she was reported missing.
Olongapo residents and Mojica’s relatives took to social media to denounce the crime and call for justice.
In her Facebook account, Tierra Ricci, the victim’s cousin, said Mojica had three bullet wounds in the head. “Whoever did this to her, you don’t … deserve to live,” Ricci said.
Picture posted
A picture of the suspect was also posted on Facebook as netizens called for his immediate arrest.
Paulino asked city residents to share any information about Viane’s whereabouts.
The victim’s relatives dismissed reports that Mojica was sexually abused. “We … ask netizens to please stop [spreading] rumors that she was raped because she was not,” Ricci said in one of her Facebook posts. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon