San Juan baby’s rapist-killer caught

The suspect in the rape and killing of an 11-month-old girl whose body was found under a jeepney in San Juan City in August was arrested Friday while having lunch at a Mandaluyong City eatery.

This was after a “friend” chanced upon the man, saw through his new look and alerted the authorities about his location.

The police found Arnel Tumbali after the informant, an ambulant vendor who used to work with him, recognized the suspect as he ate in the carinderia at the corner of Edsa and Sultan Street in Barangay Highway Hills.

Tumbali’s appearance had changed after the crime—he lost weight, grew a moustache and looked like a scavenger—but the tipster was still able to recognize him owing to their three years as street buddies selling balut and peanuts, according to Insp. Nicanor Lambino, chief of the San Juan police intelligence section.

Approached by the police in the middle of his meal, Tumbali did not resist arrest, Lambino said.

Tumbali, now a homeless man, had gone into hiding in Pasay City but eventually wandered all the way to Mandaluyong, picking through trash for recyclables he could sell to junk shops, he added.

In August, Tumbali was seen in a security camera video taking the 11-month-old girl from her parents, who were also homeless and were then sleeping on the pavement on N. Domingo Street, San Juan. The clip was obtained from a nearby LandBank branch.

The following day, the baby was found dead by Efren Reyes under a passenger jeepney parked on Don Ejercito Street.

Lambino said Tumbali may have been high on drugs when he committed the heinous crime, noting that the suspect turned up at a drug rehabilitation facility in Caloocan City a few weeks after the incident.

The slain child’s parents have yet to be informed of Tumbali’s arrest as they have already left for Cebu province, the official said.

Tumbali faces a charge of rape with homicide at San Juan City Regional Trial Court-Branch 162.