four murder victims found in two cities

Gruesome find in 2 cities: 4 boxes, 4 bodies
By Julie M. Aurelio, Nancy C. Carvajal , Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Gruesome finds came in four boxes in two cities early Saturday.

The bodies of two women stuffed in separate boxes were found a few meters from each other in a neighborhood in Manila, while a man and a woman also placed in boxes were found dead in a garbage pile in Quezon City.

In Manila, the boxes were found on Blumentritt Street, Sampaloc, at around 12:30 a.m., according to the head of the city police homicide section, Chief Insp. Joselito de Ocampo.

Ocampo identified one of the victims as Vita Bautista, 54, a buy-and-sell businesswoman from Bocaue, Bulacan province.

She was last seen alive by her daughter Jacqueline at around 3 p.m. Friday before she left their house to meet a friend on Tomas Morato, Quezon City, the officer said, quoting the victim’s relatives.

The other slain woman found in Manila remained unidentified as of late Saturday. She was described to be between 45 and 50 years old, with short hair and fair complexion.

Both victims appeared to have been strangled, Ocampo said.

In Quezon City, a seemingly related discovery was made on San Jose Street in Barangay (village) San Antonio at around 6 a.m. Saturday.

The bodies of a man and a woman believed to be victims of summary execution were found also stuffed in boxes dumped on a pile of trash. They remained unidentified and, like those found in Manila, bore strangling marks.

Masambong police station commander Supt. Pedro Sanchez said the two bodies were bound with nylon rope.

Wads of newspaper cutouts were also found in the victims’ pockets and the box containing the woman’s body had a piece of paper with the word “budol” written on it, Sanchez noted.

The woman was described to be between 35 and 40 years old, 5’1” in height, fair-skinned and wearing a red blazer, black shirt and striped shorts.

The man was about the same age, 5’3”, fair-skinned and wearing a white shirt with blue stripes, jeans and white rubber shoes.

Case investigator SPO1 Joselito Gagaza said a resident noticed a white van parked in front of the garbage pile about four hours before the discovery of the bodies.

The resident initially thought that the van’s occupants were just throwing away their trash, Gagaza said. But this resident got curious and reported the sighting to barangay officials, the investigator added.

On Aug. 5, the bodies of two men were also found stuffed inside boxes in Barangay Masambong and Sto. Domingo, also in Quezon City.