INVESTIGATORS from the City of Naga Police Station and the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) were able to retrace the movements of Joel Jude Suson Unchuan, known by his nickname Coach J, using the global positioning system (GPS) in his car.
The 46-year-old vocal coach from Queens Road, Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City, was found dead in Sitio Palanas, Barangay Inayagan, City of Naga, southern Cebu at dawn on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.
Using the GPS data from the victim’s Toyota Fortuner, police were able to determine Unchuan’s final location and the route taken by the car, which they used as the basis for backtracking closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
“We are now backtracking the movements of the victim along with his vehicle. Actually, our investigators on the ground were able to track the movements of the victim before the incident. So, we are continuously conducting backtracking of CCTVs,” according to Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesman for Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin.
Unchuan’s sport utility vehicle was found abandoned by the workers of a car wash shop along the national highway in Barangay Yati, Liloan town around 6 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, prompting them to report their sighting to the police station. Unchuan was a resident judge of the Sinulog Idol, a singing competition held every Sinulog season in Cebu City.
The CPPO personnel took custody of the vehicle on Monday, Jan. 1, for forensic examination.
The PNP Regional Forensic Unit 7 also recovered grocery items and personal belongings from Unchuan’s car.
One of the car wash employees, known by his nickname Henry, claimed they were unaware Unchuan was the owner of the car until they were summoned by the police.
“The car was already outside when we opened our shop on the morning of Dec. 31. We assumed it was left there for washing because it was very dirty, but the owner was not present,” Henry said in Cebuano.
Marlo Gapu, chief tanod of Barangay Yati, said the barangay’s CCTV cameras were destroyed during super typhoon Odette on Dec. 16, 2021, making it impossible for the barangay to use them.
As a result, police ended up securing copies of CCTV footage from private establishments.
The footage shows two short but well-built men alighting from the vehicle.