Missing rice trader found dead in Mindoro
Police investigate two persons of interest as ₱100,000 intended for palay purchases remains missing
CRIME SCENE. A police officer documents the area where missing rice trader John Edmon Tardio was found dead in a cornfield in Sitio Amnay, Barangay Barahan, Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, on 30 October 2026.
Occidental Mindoro Police Provincial Office, subject to confirmation
SANTA CRUZ, Occidental Mindoro — A 35-year-old rice trader who had been missing for two days was found stabbed to death in a cornfield in Barangay Barahan, Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, on Friday, 30 October, as police investigated two persons of interest and the disappearance of ₱100,000.
The victim, identified as John Edmon Tardio, was discovered at around 9:39 a.m. in Sitio Amnay with multiple stab wounds.
According to information attributed to the Occidental Mindoro Police Provincial Office, Tardio had been reported missing on 28 October after failing to return home.
Police Lt. Col. Xelacor Marie Garcia, spokesperson for the provincial police office, said investigators were looking into two fellow rice traders who reportedly had been drinking with the victim before his disappearance.
The two individuals are being treated as persons of interest as investigators work to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing.
Authorities are also examining the reported disappearance of ₱100,000 allegedly entrusted to Tardio by a financier for the purchase of palay.
Investigators have not established whether the missing money was connected to the killing or whether robbery was the motive.
Scene of the Crime Operatives examined the cornfield where the victim's body was recovered and gathered evidence as part of the investigation.
Police have yet to announce any arrests or the filing of formal charges.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities seek to determine the motive and identify those responsible for the trader's death.