The Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed yesterday that a decapitated head of a Caucasian-looking person found beside the Mt. Carmel Cathedral on Sanchez Street in Barangay Walled City, Jolo, belongs to Canadian Robert Hall.
During a press briefing in Camp Crame, Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Aranas, PNP Crime Laboratory Director, confirmed that Hall’s DNA profile given by the Canadian embassy and the DNA from the specimen taken from the severed head have matched.
”I would like to inform the public that finally we have confirmed the identification of the decapitated head. Ito ’yung kidnap victim na ang pangalan ay Robert Hall. Now we were able to identify the said victim through DNA and luckily we were given the DNA profile of Mr. Robert Hall. It was generated by the national forensic laboratory services from Ottawa Canada. So ibig sabihin the head that was recovered from Sulu is indeed that of Mr. Robert Hall,” Aranas told reporters.
Aranas said the victim’s body is still missing.
Last June 13, Police found Hall’s head placed inside a plastic bag in Sulu.
Abu Sayyaf bandits snatched Hall along with three other people from an upscale resort in Samal Island in September, 2015.
He was the second Canadian beheaded by the bandits, following the execution of another Canadian captive John Ridsdel last April 25. (PNA)