Missing couple found in well

STO. DOMINGO, Nueva Ecija — The search for the missing couple Rolando Gonzales, 60, and his wife Imelda, 56, relatives of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, ended May 31.

They were found in a 22-foot-deep well in Sitio Ilog Baliwag, Barangay Sto. Rosario, this town.

The bodies of the victims were identified by Balanga City police chief, Supt. Benjamin H. Silo Jr., as Rolando Gonzales y Batong Bakal, and Imelda Gonzales y Valencia, both residents of Balanga City, Bataan.

The well was first dug up on May 27 but the rains that fell in the area made digging difficult that authorities had to use a backhoe. The couple had been missing for 41 days.

The last place they were seen together was at the Balanga Cathedral. Reports indicated they were abducted after they attended mass at the Cathedral in Balanga City.

The exhumed bodies were reportedly identified by a brother of Rolando, 41 days after they were reported abducted after attending mass in Balanga in Bataan on April 20. The exhumation of the bodies was witnessed by a team of operatives from the Nueva Ecija Crime Laboratory headed by Inspector Marissa D. Areola, Scene of Crime Office team leader.

Cabanatuan Cty Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Jun Concepcion, said in his autopsy report that the Gonzales couple bore three stab wounds each in the different parts of the body.

He also stated the bodies appeared fresh and not bloated indicating they were killed only "a few days ago.

“The bodies, having been immersed in water, could have preserved their bodies, he added.

Concepcion also noted in his autopsy report the man’s hands were tied with his mouth covered with packing tape.

Meanwhile, the woman’s arm and leg were hit with a blunt object. Concepcion also collected "bone marrow samples from the left femur of the victims as well as hair strands" for DNA examination.

The bodies were taken to the St. James funeral parlor in the town on June 1. They were later brought to Bataan for disposition.

The well was being used by native farmers in providing irrigation in their farm lands in the area.

One of the kidnappers pinpointed the location of the grave to the Balanga police authorities after their arrest.

According to Senior Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, Bataan police director, they got a lucky break when one Allan Lopez, 35, of Magalang Pampanga, one of four arrested suspects in the kidnap of the Gonzales couple in Dinalupihan, Bataan, confessed and pointed to the grave.

The Gonzales couple was reportedly engaged in money-lending with mostly market vendors as their customers.

The kidnapping was originally intended merely to scare off the couple to drop their demands for a P900,000 indebtedness but later led to the asking of a ransom.