Elderly American priest didn’t make it home

An elderly American priest was found dead before noon Wednesday inside his room at a missionary house in Manila on the same day that he was set to go home to the US.

Joseph Schwegmann, 62, of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, was discovered at around 11:30 a.m. inside his room at the Missionary Society of St. Columban at the corner of Singalong and Remedios Streets in Malate.

Police Officer 3 Amelito Lopez, of the Manila Police District (MPD) Homicide Section, said Schwegmann arrived at the missionary house on Monday morning and stayed inside his room to prepare for his flight back to the US.

Lopez said Schwegmann, who has been with the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro for 20 years, was supposed to return to the US on Wednesday afternoon.

A report sent to the  case investigator  revealed that hours before noon of  Wednesday,  the staff of the missionary house began to wonder why the priest had not shown any signs that he was preparing for his departure.

A member of the missionary home’s staff, Jonathan Salva, then decided to knock on his door to inquire.

When there was no response, Salva used a duplicate key to open the door to the room where he discovered the victim’s body.

Lopez noted that while the body bore no external injuries, it was already bloated, showing that the priest could have been dead for sometime.

He offered the theory  that the elderly priest  died of a natural cause.

The body was brought to the St. Yvan Funeral Parlor for an autopsy. The US Embassy has already been informed of Schwegmann’s death.