‘Mentally ill’ woman found dead in septic tank in Lapu-Lapu City

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY — A 52-year-old woman, who was said to be mentally ill, was found dead inside a septic tank in Barangay Canjulao, Lapu-Lapu City on Tuesday afternoon.

Jocelyn Berdin, a resident of Purok Atis in Barangay Canjulao, Lapu-Lapu, was already in a state of decomposition when discovered by a staff member of the Francis Julian Corporation, a supplier of food products of a fast food chain.

PO3 Joseph Ruel Cutanda of the Lapu-Lapu police homicide section said a security guard of the establishment called the police about the body found in the septic tank around 1 p.m.

An employee of the establishment, who refused to be named, said he was supposed to clean the septic tank of hardened oil and waste water. When he opened the cover, he saw a body protruding in the water. He then called his colleagues for help.

The police arrived and retrieved the body who was later identified as Berdin.

Cutanda said they had yet to review the footage of the nearby closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) but no one saw how Berdin was able to get inside the septic tank.  SFM