A WOMAN was found dead inside her sari-sari store in Nabua Compound, Matina Aplaya on Saturday, October 13, 2018.

Police are looking at robbery as a motive in the killing of Mercedita Datoy Estilore, 43.

Estilore was found hogtied at around 4 p.m. Saturday by Danilo Alapag, who is renting a house adjacent to the store.

Alapag informed Felicisimo Nabua Jr., his landlord, about a foul smell coming from the store.

Nabua then peeped through a hole at the main door to the store and saw the victim, with her feet and hands tied. Estilore's mouth was covered with tape and a yellow rope was tied around her neck.

The Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) team that responded to the incident recovered one packing tape and a nylon rope that was used to tie the victim.

The team also found two bottles of soft drinks, two glasses and bottled water. Police hope to extract fingerprints from these items.