CEBU CITY – Police here are zeroing in on several leads in their efforts to identify the person or persons responsible for the gruesome killing of a 19-year-old woman from Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
TOCMO To avoid hampering the investigation, Police Col. Ireneo Dalogdog, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), refused to divulge the leads that investigators are looking into but there are efforts to find the driver of the “habal-habal” (motorcycle taxi) that the victim Rhea Mae Tocmo rode when she left her boarding house in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City a day before she was found dead. Dalogdog said they may be able to extract vital information from the habal-habal driver that would lead to the identification of the assailants. He said they were able to get closed-circuit television footage showing Tocmo riding a motorcycle from her boarding house. Dalogdog said that upon review of the footage, the motorcycle did not reach the highway, raising the possibility that Tocmo was picked up by someone aboard a car. “We submitted the footage to the anti-cybercrime unit for it to be enhanced so we can get a clearer look at the plate number of the motorcycle,” Dalogdog said. The CCPO chief added that the habal-habal driver is now considered a “person of interest.” “He is a person of interest because maybe he knows the victim and we need his cooperation,” said Dalogdog. The body of Tocmo was found on Monday, July 17, stuffed in a box and dumped by the road in Barangay Tisa here. Police said the victim died by strangulation based on the autopsy report. The victim’s hands were tied while her face was severely injured when she was found. Her father and sister have arrived in Cebu. The family intends to bring the victim’s remains to Cagayan de Oro City where Tocmo was born. Dalogdog assured that even if the family will no longer be in Cebu, the investigation to identify Tocmo’s killers will continue.