Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga candidate Geneva Sarita Lopez and her Israeli boyfriend Yitshak Cohen. (Image: Facebook/Mutya ng Pilipinas, Finding Geneva and Yitzhak)
MANILA, Philippines — The two persons of interest linked to the abduction and killing of beauty pageant candidate Geneva Lopez and her Israeli boyfriend, Yitshak Cohen, have been identified, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.
PNP Spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, however opted not to publicly identify them yet so as not to compromise the ongoing investigation.
“We already received information concerning those who were accounted for. We already have names and aliases. We are still tracking them but there’s a process that needs to be followed so we can arrest and investigate them,” she said in a press briefing.
“Based on what we have, they are civilians,” she added.
Police further said that based on their records, seven individuals are involved in the case.
Three were arrested for illegal possession of firearms, two surrendered and gave their statements to the police, and the two recently identified individuals who remain at large.
Of the three arrested, two are former police officers — Michael Angelo Guiang and Rommel Abuzo — and are now main suspects in the case for allegedly shooting the couple over a land dispute.
Guiang and Abuza were patrolmen assigned to Angeles City police at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They were dismissed from service after they went absent without leave.
Last July 6, the PNP said the Tarlac police recovered the bodies of Lopez and Cohen in a quarry site in Barangay Sta. Lucia in Capas town, two weeks after the couple disappeared on June 21.
On Monday, PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Maj. Gen. Leo Francisco said they are coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation to solidify the case and file two counts of murder against Guiang and Abuzo in the coming days.