The remote area in Capas, Tarlac where the cadavers of missing Pampanga beauty queen Geneva Sarita Lopez and her Israeli partner Yitshak Cohen were exhumed. (photo: Governor Delta Facebook page)
Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) recovered on Saturday, July 6, two cadavers believed to be that of missing Pampanga beauty queen Geneva Sarita Lopez and her Israeli partner Yitshak Cohen.
A report from the CID disclosed that the recovery of the two bodies in a remote area in at Barangay Sta Lucia, Capas, Tarlac at around 7 a.m. on Saturday was part of the implementation of the search warrant relative to exhumation of the two cadavers that was issued by a Tarlac City court.
“As a result, the Tarlac Provincial Forensic Unit led by Police Major Angelito S Angel were able to exhume and recover the two (2) cadavers believed to be the bodies of Geneva Sarita Lopez and Yitshak Cohen,” the report read.
While the CIDG would not confirm that the two cadavers belong to the missing couple, Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda announced on Saturday that the bodies of Lopez and Cohen were already found.
In a post on his Facebook account “Governor Delta”, Pineda said that the police personnel who exhumed the bodies confirmed that they are Lopez and Cohen based on their clothes.
“Kinumpirma po ito ng pulis base sa kasuotan at gamit ng mga biktima Ipagdasal po natin ang kanilang kaluluwa. Nakikiramay po ako sa mga pamilya. Patuloy po akong tutulong sa paghahanap ng hustisya para kay Geneva at Yitshak. (This was confirmed by the police based on the clothes they were wearing. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family. We will continue to seek justice for Geneva and Yitshak),” Pineda’s post read.
Police said the two cadavers were brought to the Lutos Funeral located in Barangay San Vicente, Tarlac City and will be subjected to autopsy examination and DNA testing/analysis.
The couple went missing on June 21 in Tarlac where they were supposed to meet a middleman for their planned purchase of agricultural land.
The sports utility vehicle (SUV) they were using was later found burning in Capas town.
Police are now conducting an investigation and recently announced that they have already identified persons of interest, including a former policeman who served as the middleman in the supposed transaction.