Police in the Philippines are investigating a disturbing homicide after a woman was found dead inside a refrigerator in an apartment she shared with her partner.
The body was discovered on Sept. 16 at an apartment in Barangay San Jose in Rodriguez, Rizal, after the landlord noticed a strong odor coming from the unit and contacted authorities. Police said the woman appeared to have been dead for several days.
The victim’s identity was initially unclear, prompting Rodriguez Municipal Police to release her photo publicly in hopes that someone would recognize her.
That effort worked.
Her father went to police after seeing the image online and positively identified his daughter, though authorities have continued to withhold her name publicly.
Police said the woman showed signs of strangulation, including marks around her neck. Investigators estimated that she had been dead for approximately six to seven days before her body was found.
Attention has now turned to the woman’s live-in partner.
Philippine National Police spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co said the man is considered a person of interest and already has an outstanding arrest warrant in a separate serious illegal detention case. Contrary to some early reports suggesting he was already in custody, the latest reporting from The Philippine Star says police were still searching for him.
Investigators are also examining whether money may have played a role in the killing.
According to police, the victim’s father told investigators that his daughter had been carrying a large sum of money when she and her partner went to Rizal. Co said detectives are looking into the possibility that an argument over that money may have led to her death, though police have not established a final motive.
The woman herself had recently been released on bail in connection with a serious illegal detention case, police said.
Investigators believe she and her partner had traveled to Rizal intending to start over, but authorities are now trying to determine what happened inside the apartment during the days before her death.
Police also discovered identification cards belonging to a man and woman inside the apartment, but authorities later determined the names and address on those IDs were fake, complicating the early stages of the investigation.
One particularly unusual aspect of the case is the location of the body.
Investigators believe whoever placed the woman inside the refrigerator may have been attempting to slow decomposition and buy additional time to flee. That remains an investigative theory and has not been proven in court.
Authorities are continuing to review evidence, including surveillance footage and information from the victim’s family, as they work to locate the person of interest and determine exactly what happened.
