Persons of interest identified in missing beauty pageant bet, Israeli bf case

Authorities are now looking into some persons of interest behind the disappearance of a beauty pageant contestant and her Israeli boyfriend, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.

“Sa persons of interest, hindi pa po tayo makapagbigay ng additional na detalye. Pero initially, may mga identified na po tayo na persons of interest,” PNP spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo said in a press briefing.

(For persons of interest, we cannot provide additional details yet. But initially, persons of interest have been identified.)

Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga bet Geneva Lopez, 26, and her boyfriend Yitshak Cohen, 37, were last seen on June 21 when they left Angeles City, Pampanga and drove to Capas, Tarlac to look at a property they were planning to buy.

Their SUV was later seen burning along a road in Capas with no sign of its occupants. 

Fajardo said the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) went to the address of the registered owner of the vehicle that was found in Tarlac City recently.  

However, authorities learned that the registered owner had sold the vehicle to other people.

PNP chief General Rommel Marbil ordered the creation of a special investigation task group (SITG) for the probe on the disappearance of the couple.

Led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the SITG is composed of the HPG, Anti-Cybercrime Group, Forensic Group, among other units.

Cohen’s family is offering a P250,000 reward to anyone who can provide information on the missing couple. —VAL, GMA Integrated News