Cops face blank wall on mass murder

From the Mindanao Examiner (Jan 13, 2024): Cops face blank wall on mass murder

ILIGAN CITY — Police were facing a blank wall on the gruesome murder of seven people found buried in a shallow grave in the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Norte.

Two of the victims Marly and Joselito Gaviola were residents of Zamboanga City. The remaining cadavers belonged to Jomar Lenera, Elvie Lenara, Jopay Lenara, Epifanio Lenara Sr. and his son Epifanio Jr., all from Margos sa Tubig town in Zamboanga del Sur province. All were Christians.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the killings. It was unknown if the pro-ISIS group Dawlah Islamiya was behind the massacre and pretended to be a job recruiter to lure Christians in the province and then kill them.

Police said all the victims, all Christians, had been shot with one report saying the bodies also bore hack wounds, and buried in the remote village of Karkum. The grave was discovered January 7 after relatives of the Gaviola family received text messages saying the duo is dead.

Marly and Joselito were recruited here to work at a factory in Cebu, according to the Gaviola family, adding relatives tried calling pair after receiving the horrifying text messages from an unknown number but the phones were apparently turned off.

One relative said she was told that there were 14 people recruited to work in Cebu. The recruiter remains unidentified. (Mindanao Examiner)

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