CIDG nabs suspect in killing of Pampanga beauty contestant, Israeli fiancé

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has arrested another suspect in the shocking killing of 2024 Mutya ng Pilipinas-Pampanga candidate Geneva Lopez and her Israeli fiancé, Yitshak Cohen. 

In a press statement, CIDG said the arrest took place on March 18, 2025, in Barangay Care, Tarlac City, as part of the ongoing efforts to bring justice to the victims and their families.

The suspect, identified as "Jay," was captured by the CIDG Tarlac Provincial Field Unit under a Warrant of Arrest for murder (Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code), issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 109 of Capas, Tarlac on March 10, 2025. 

Jay is the fourth suspect arrested out of the five accused in the gruesome killings of Lopez and Cohen, and he has been labeled the CIDG’s Most Wanted Person at the regional level in Central Luzon.

The tragic deaths of Geneva Lopez and her fiancé, Yitshak Cohen, occurred on July 6, 2024, when their bodies were discovered in a quarry site in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Capas, Tarlac. 

The couple had been reported missing several days earlier after they told Geneva’s sister they were heading to Capas for a meeting with a certain Police Officer Michael Angelo Guiang regarding a land transaction. That was the last time they were seen alive.

The couple's vehicle, a gray Nissan Terra, was found burned along the Capas-San Jose Road in Barangay Cristo Rey, Capas, Tarlac, on the morning of June 22, 2024. Inside the burned vehicle, authorities found a partially scorched document bearing Geneva Lopez's name, providing a chilling clue to the couple's fate.

Following the discovery, the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) GENESAAC was activated by the Tarlac Police Provincial Office, with the CIDG Tarlac Provincial Field Unit playing a lead role in the investigation. 

The thorough investigation led to the filing of a criminal complaint on August 15, 2024, against five suspects, including Police Officer Michael Angelo Guiang and four other individuals: Rommel, Jeffrey, Emerson, and Jay.

In the months that followed, CIDG and territorial police units conducted a series of operations to apprehend the suspects. The efforts culminated in the arrest of four out of the five accused individuals by March 19, 2025, in what authorities have described as a well-executed series of operations.

Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III, Director of the CIDG, commended the tireless efforts of the CIDG Tarlac PFU in bringing these murder suspects to justice. 

With four suspects in custody, the CIDG is now focusing on the final suspect still at large. 

"We call on the remaining individual to surrender to the authorities. The CIDG will continue to pursue all leads, and we will not rest until every criminal involved is brought to justice," Torre said. –NB, GMA Integrated News