CONTRIBUTED PHOTO VIA PAUL LAURO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police in Carcar City, southern Cebu are now investigating the death of a woman inside a motel on Thursday, May 5.
Carcar City Police Station chief, Police Lt. Col. Ardioleto Cabagnot, confirmed that a woman was found dead inside a motel on Thursday noon.
Cabagnot said they are still verifying the identity of the victim since investigators have not found any identification card (ID) inside the room where she checked in.
The police received a dead person alarm from the motel management around 12 noon on Thursday.
Initial reports stated that the victim was with a male companion shortly before her corpse was discovered. They also believed she may have died due to strangulation since there were no wounds on her body.
Citing testimonies from the hotel staff and security guards, investigators said the woman checked in at Room No. 19 around 8:30 on Thursday.
Shortly after she checked in, a man joined her in the room.
A few hours later, one of the security guards heard a woman screaming ‘tabang’ (help in English) from Room No. 19, prompting him to check the room.
“But it was the man who responded to the guard, and told him everything’s fine,” Cabagnot said in Cebuano.
The man, according to motel staff, went out of the room around 11:30 a.m and told them that he will just be getting lunch.
The still-unidentified male companion, however, did not return.
Motel staff went to check Room No. 19 past 12 noon, to ask the woman whether she will be extending her stay or not.
When there was no response from the woman, the staff sought help from another security guard. They opened the room, only to find the woman lifeless.
Carcar City is a fifth-class component city in Cebu province, located approximately 40 kilometers southeast of the capital Cebu City. / rcg