A WEEK after Rhea Mae Tocmo was murdered, police in Cebu City already have persons of interest (POIs) in the case.
A native of Jasaan town in Misamis Oriental, the 19-year-old Tocmo was found dead and wrapped inside a cardboard box left on the roadside in Sitio Mohon, Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Monday, July 17, 2023.
She arrived in Cebu last June 11 to find a job.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), however, refused to divulge the names of POIs pending an ongoing investigation, but promised to get statements from anyone who had contact with the victim.
Rafter claimed that they have expanded the scope of their investigation into the incident by adding police personnel.
"We are on the right track in our investigation because of the leads we acquired as we go along the way,” the lady police official said.
Rafter admitted that all of Rhea Mae's colleagues that they interviewed have so far cooperated in their investigation.
The CCTV footage from Mandaue City, where Tocmo was picked up by a man on a motorbike, and along the path leading to Sitio Mohon, where her body was discovered, was one of the leads gathered by the police.
The CCPO informed the victim's family that they would not give up until the girl's murder was brought to justice.
"We assured that it wouldn't be abandoned and we really do see to it that justice is done,” Rafter said.
There were already results of the autopsy on Rhea Mae's body, but Rafter did not disclose the findings while their investigation is still ongoing.(AYB, TPT)