POLICE yesterday linked a burning Kia Picanto car abandoned in Naawan town last Friday night to the killings of four still unidentified persons whose bodies were found hours later in Villanueva town, also in Misamis Oriental.
PNP-10 regional spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Olaivar said investigators believed that the victims were on the white Kia Picanto car in Iligan City before they were abducted and brought to Naawan town in Misamis Oriental.
Olaivar said the four persons including a 15-year-old male and another six-year-old boy were found dead on a road at 4 am in Purok 9, Barangay Imelda, Villanueva town, some 91 kilometers east of Naawan town.
A witness found the bullet-riddled bodies and reported it to the police at 4 am on Saturday dawn.
Olaivar said police in Naawan found the white Kia Picanto car with plate number KAB 2194 around 8 pm in Purok 7, Barangay Linangkayan in Naawan town.
“Our investigators are sure that the victims were on this car in Iligan City when they were abducted and brought to Naawan and Villanueva town,” Olaivar said.
Police in Misamis Oriental identified the four dead persons only by their nicknames as ‘Mark,’ a 15-year-old Maranao from Iligan City; ‘Miller,’ a six-year-old Maranao; ‘Noel Jr,’ the driver; and ‘Joy,’ reportedly a debt collector from Initao, Misamis Oriental.
A witness, whose name is withheld by the police for security reasons, said he was driving home Friday night when he saw a dead body sprawled on the road in Barangay Imelda, Villanueva town.
“I saw the three other victims standing over the dead body. I fled the scene out of fear but I saw no one beside them,” he told reporters.
The witness said when they returned with the police around 4 am, they found four bullet-riddled bodies on the road.
Olaivar said all of the hands of the victims were tied with wires and their mouths covered with duct tapes.
She said five empty caliber .45 shells and three 9mm caliber were found from the crime scene.
