Tarlac cops still have no leads on missing couple

CHARRED Police have preserved the charred Nissan Terra used by missing couple Geneva Lopez and Yitshak Cohen that was found burning along Cojuangco Road in Capas, Tarlac, on June 22, some 10 hours after they were last seen in the town. —photo courtesy of Capas Police

MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Police in Tarlac province continued reviewing footage from several security cameras in an effort to locate Kapampangan beauty pageant contestant Geneva Lopez and her Israeli boyfriend Yitshak Cohen, who disappeared on June 21.

Police Lt. Col. Librado Manarang, police chief of Capas town in Tarlac, told the Inquirer on Sunday that their backtracking efforts involved examining the footage from video-surveillance cameras installed on residential buildings and business establishments around Cristo Rey village in Capas, where the couple was last seen.

He said they obtained footage that showed the gray Nissan Terra used by the couple while traversing a road leading to Armenia village in Tarlac City, where Lopez planned to buy 20.5 hectares of upland agricultural land.

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According to Manarang, the footage had been turned over to the “committee on missing persons” created on June 28 by the Tarlac provincial police.

But Manarang said a case of kidnapping was still unlikely because no ransom demand has been made.

“We have been coordinating with Ms Geneva’s family members to ask about information relevant to the missing persons case and if they have received any calls from anyone asking for ransom. They said they did not receive any,” he said.

Lopez, 27, a candidate of Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2024, representing Sto. Tomas town, and Cohen, 37, left their residence in Malabanias, Angeles City, at 1:20 p.m. on June 21 to meet with a middleman for the sale of the two parcels of land.

Property inspection

In a sworn statement, the middleman said he met with the couple at 2 p.m. that day in front of a Petron gasoline station at the entrance of Cristo Rey village in Capas, then boarded their respective vehicles and drove to Armenia village for Geneva to inspect the properties she was buying.

By late afternoon that day, the couple could no longer be contacted by phone or via their respective social media accounts.

The middleman told the Capas police that he parted ways with the couple shortly after the ocular inspection of the two parcels of 12.5-ha and 8-ha farmlands.

By 2:36 a.m. on June 22 or some 10 hours after the couple was supposed to drive back to Angeles City via Capas, the sport utility vehicle (SUV) they drove was found ablaze along Cojuangco Road in Cristo Rey. The road connects Cristo Rey village in Capas and Armenia village in Tarlac City.

Investigators said the vehicle, which was reportedly pawned to the couple by its owner, who resides in Bulacan, was facing north as if traveling to Armenia village when it was found burning,

Manarang said the owner of the Nissan Terra was invited to the Capas police to explain why the missing couple was using his vehicle. He was supposed to show up on June 25 and on June 29.

“Up to now, he (SUV owner) did not show up. His lawyer told us that they would come here on Monday or Tuesday,” Manarang said on Sunday.

On June 29, the Capas police chief and the provincial police’s committee on missing persons conducted an ocular inspection at the area in Cojuangco Road, where the vehicle was abandoned and burned.

According to the police, there were no residential buildings or business establishments in the area. They also inspected the agricultural land Geneva intended to buy in Armenia village.

Forensic probe

Manarang said a burned cell phone was found earlier in the back seat of the burned vehicle.

“The mobile gadget, a cell phone, was brought to the regional anticybercrime office in Camp Olivas (in San Fernando, Pampanga) for forensic investigation. But data could no longer be retrieved from the gadget because it was completely burned,” he said.

Manarang said they had received information that Lopez was able to buy agricultural land in Tarlac in the past and had requested the Tarlac Registry of Deeds office for a copy of the property’s title to find out its exact location and its land area.

“Up to now, we have been aggressively looking and coordinating with the family and friends of the missing couple, and until now, we still could not find a lead about these two persons’ whereabouts,” he said.