What started with the disappearance on October 19 of Heidelberg preschool owner Reynaldo Aguilar, school caretaker Tony Austria and a 10-year-old boy who did chores for the school, ended in a tale of a missing person and a long road trip from Manila to Northern Samar in a stolen car.
The vehicle was commandeered by the suspected abductor, Aurelio Esidera, a native of the province.
Manila Police District anti-carnapping and hijacking (MPD-ANCARH) unit head Chief Inspector Rayan Ador told the Inquirer that while they have rescued Austria and the boy, and recovered the stolen car, they have yet to confirm the whereabouts of Aguilar, also a professor at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
A decomposing body, which had been burned, was found Monday morning at around 10 a.m. along a rough road near the national highway in Barangay (village) Hidhid, Matnog town in Sorsogon province, but investigators, have yet to establish the identity of the cadaver.
“There was a quantum pendant necklace recovered from the body. We were told that Aguilar wears a similar necklace, but the body still has to be identified because it was burned beyond recognition,” Ador said.
The body had been placed on a stack of dried coconut husks and soaked in gasoline before it was set on fire.
“Informants told us that the missing car, a Ford Focus, was spotted at around 11:45 p.m. of October 19 on board a roll-on/roll-off vessel of the Sta. Clara Shipping Lines bound for Allen, Samar,” Ador said, leading them to coordinate an investigation with the Northern Samar provincial police office.
Joint teams of the MPD ANCARH unit and the MPD Sta. Cruz station 3 found Austria at the Catarman provincial hospital where he was taken by residents of Lope de Vega town in Northern Samar who found him. He bore grazed wounds on the left ear and chin and had a bullet wound in the back.
“Austria said he was dropped off by Esidera along the national highway before he was shot. He pretended to be dead and was left behind by the suspect,” Ador said.
The boy, meanwhile, was left in the care of a priest, Fr. Gaddi of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Calbayog City, on October 21.
“Fr. Gaddi said the suspect had told him the boy was his son and he was leaving him in his care because he was going “somewhere dangerous,” Ador said.
Some of Aguilar’s belongings, including a blood-soaked car floor mat, were recovered by police in Barangay Olquindo, Catarman.
The Ford Focus was recovered Monday morning in Barangay Trinidad, Catarman town.
Austria told police that he and the boy were taken by the suspect after they witnessed on Wednesday night Esidera ransacking Aguilar’s room at Heidelberg preschool along P. Guevarra Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila.
Austria said he recognized Esidera as a tenant of the building where the school is located.
Austria said he tried to subdue the suspect but he was overpowered and later hogtied, along with the boy.
Before he was blindfolded and gagged, he said he saw Aguilar, also hogtied, near him.