Almost a month after two decomposing bodies, believed to be those of a United States citizen and his Filipina girlfriend from Negros Oriental, were found in a remote village in Palawan, the local police have not yet received confirmation of their identities.
Negros Oriental OIC provincial police director, Senior Supt. Mariano Natuel Jr., said yesterday that his office is still awaiting results of the DNA examination conducted by the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory at Camp Crame in Quezon City to confirm that the bodies are those of Bradley Jay Fugate and Cristina Andig.
Fugate, 44, a chemist from California, U.S.A., his fiancée, Andig 19, and four other Filipinos went missing at sea February 13 after they set sail on a small motor banca from Maloh, Siaton in south Negros Oriental.
Natuel said that they have requested for copies of the DNA cross-matching results, since the Filipinos are from Negros Oriental, while Fugate is a temporary resident of Dumaguete City.
However, people known to the two have initially identified them through photos taken by the police after their bodies were found in a motor banca February 28 in Mangsee in Balabac, Palawan.
However, U.S. authorities are cautious about confirming the identity of the male body until the DNA test results are out, the police said.
Palawan police took sample tissues from both cadavers and had requested the PNP Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame to run DNA tests, the results of which are expected in 15 to 30 days.
The bodies were already in an advanced stage of decomposition and no longer recognizable when found and buried in Mangsee.
The four others, Roseldo Andig (Cristina’s brother), Jovie Fundador, Rey Tamondoc Benetes, and Elmer Aniñon Sabroso, are still missing.
Natuel said they are waiting until the crime laboratory releases the DNA results. (PNA)
