Police said that the man on the picture was a person of interest in the killing of Reah Mae Tocmo. | Photo from Cebu City Police Office
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Policemen in Cebu City now have possession of the cellular phone of murder victim Reah Mae Tocmo.
Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, director of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), expressed hope that they would find vital information from the phone that would help in their ongoing investigation of her case.
Dalogdog said the cellphone was sold by the man, whose face appears on a photo and whom the police director identified as a person of interest (POI) in the killing of the 19-year-old from Davao del Norte.
In a press conference on Thursday, July 27, Dalogdog said that the person of interest sold Tocmo’s phone to a buyer near Carbon Public Market. The said buyer turned over the phone to the police.
”Siguro, kung taga-Cebu City to siya, basin og naay nakaila sa iya kay siya na karon ang among natumbok nga usa sa among mga persons of interest tungod sa na-identify siya sa mao mismong buyer atong cellphone,” Dalogdog said.
Dalogdog said that the still unidentified suspect first attempted to unlock Tocmo’s phone. When he failed to do so, he decided to instead sell this for P1, 700.
The buyer learned that the phone belonged to the murder victim two days after the purchase was made.
According to Dalogdog, the buyer recognized Tocmo from photos that were stored on her phone.
The buyer then visited the Labangon Police Station to turnover the Tocmo’s cellphone.
Dalogdog said that the phone was already sent to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit (RACU) to check who were the people Tocmo was in contact with prior to her death.
To get possible leads on the identity and location of the PIO, Dalogdog said, they are posting his photo on their official Facebook pages.
“Katong picture sa maong persons of interest, amo ni siyang ipost didto sa amoang mga Facebook account sa mga station ug sa Cebu City Police Office nga Facebook account, para ma-identify gyud sa mga tao nga kini siyang tawhana isa sa mga persons of interest,” he said.
He is also urging the public to help them identify and locate the POI.
Moreover, Dalogdog said that they are now focusing their investigation on the man on the photo that they earlier released.
“Posible, isa gyud to siya sa mga suspects kay nganong naa man sa iyaha ang katong maong cellphone sa biktima?” he said.
As part of their ongoing investigation, Dalogodog said that they are also looking for the driver of a motorcycle that Tocmo boarded after she left her boarding house in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City last July 16, 2023, the same day that she was last seen alive.
The motorcycle was traveling to Cebu City via the Panagdait Road in Barangay Mabolo. It then proceeded to Escario Street.
Dalogdog said that it was possible that Tocmo was traveling to Barangay Labangon.
However, he said that they are yet to identify the motorcycle driver whose face was not visible on the CCTV footage since he was wearing a helmet. | with Mary Godinez, CTU Intern
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