BY CRIS DIAZ
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: The seven bodies recovered in a remote village in Lanao del Norte Sunday, January 7, 2024, were residents of Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur, a local radio station said Monday.
The Mindanao Daily News contacted the “Barangay Radio FM 101.1” in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur whose staff identified as Francis D. Llemit shared the identities of the seven slain victims.
The victims were identified as Joselito Gaviola, Marly Gaviola, Elvie Gaviola Lenara, Epifanio Lenara, Jopay Lenara, Jomar Lenara, Epifanio Lenara Jr., all residents of Purok Dama de Noche, Sitio Luguimit, Poblacion Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur.
The surnames of the victims indicated that they are members or relatives of the Lenara and Gaviola families.
P/Maj Joan Navarro, spokesperson of the police regional command, the bodies of the victims were retrieved in Sitio Lapao, Barangay Karkum, Sapad, Lanao Del Norte.
She said that a concerned citizen in Karkum reported the presence of the dead bodies about 9 ayem Sunday, January 7, 2024, prompting law enforcers led by P/Maj. Alibsar P. Daraba, Chief of Police of Sapad to proceed to the area.
“So remote, accessible only by horses, that the responding law enforcers arrived in the area as the dusk was falling rapidly,” Navarro said.
Police theorized that the Lenara and Gaviola families were killed by two or more persons somewhere then their bodies were transported to the remote borders of Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur apparently to conceal the crime.
Navarro said that the police is still coordinating with the law enforcers in Zamboanga del Sur to determine the motive of the killing and identify the culprits.
The bodies of the victims now lies in a Funeral Homes in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. -0-
