2 gunshot wounds each on beauty contestant, Israeli BF — NBI

The National Bureau of Investigation said on Sunday that the autopsy done on the bodies of a beauty pageant contestant and her Israeli boyfriend showed they were each shot twice.

As disclosed by NBI Director Jaime Santiago, beauty pageant contestant Geneva Lopez had gunshots at the back of her torso and her thigh, while her boyfriend Yitshak Cohen had gunshots on his chest and near the armpit.

"So both of them received two shots each," said Santiago. 

He said that a slug was found in the body of Lopez, which will be submitted for a ballistics examination.

The Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) conducted the DNA testing. Results have yet to be released.

Santiago also said the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is the lead agency in the investigation. The NBI is collaborating with the CIDG and providing forensic assistance.

Santiago though assured that there was a 99 percent chance that the bodies found were the two missing individuals they were looking for.

Report showed the bodies were discovered in a vacant lot within a quarry site in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Capas, Tarlac on Saturday morning.

It was confirmed by Santiago on Saturday that the bodies are those of Lopez and Cohen.

On Sunday, Santiago said the relatives of the two victims confirmed the identities of the two bodies.

He said the two bodies have been found and identified by their family. They recognized them by their clothes and marks on their body.

However, Santiago said their bodies were already decomposing when they saw them, and there is a need to identify the corpses and one way is through an autopsy.

The two were last seen on 21 June as they went to Capas, Tarlac to look at a property they were planning to buy.

Their SUV was later seen burned the next day along a road in Capas with no sign of its occupants.

The NBI chief said they are looking at a possible issue on land, which could be a motive for the crime.

DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos said the two suspects, police officers who took absences without leave, are now under police custody.

Santiago said that evidence is strong against these two suspects.

The search for the victims at the quarry site was launched after the Tarlac City Regional Trial Court Branch 111 issued a warrant dated 5 July 2024.