The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) are investigating the killing of a 20-year-old man whose body was found in Caloocan City a day after he was abducted by unidentified men.
Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District director, said they are pursuing leads in the murder of Chito Lorenzo Lopez, or Renzo, who was discovered dead after he went missing in Quezon City last March 14.
He said they are now establishing the motive behind the killing.
While Lopez was not linked to illegal drugs, the police official said he has received reports that the young father was involved in “other activities” which he did not disclose.
Lopez’ relatives claimed that the victim had not been involved in any trouble nor illegal activities.
Lopez was reportedly abducted around 10:30 p.m. on March 14 in front of a carwash on Batasan Road in Barangay Batasan Hills.
Witnesses told the QCPD that Lopez was dragged by four armed men, clad in masks and bull caps, into a heavily-tinted gray van without a license plate.
On Sunday, authorities confirmed he was slain.
After almost two weeks of search in various barangays, Lopez’ relatives found him in a funeral parlor in Barangay Camarin, Caloocan, bearing multiple gunshot wounds the body.
Eleazar, citing information from the Northern Police Disrict (NPD), said Lopez was discovered dead early morning of March 15 in a vacant lot on Quirino Highway.
At least 13 empty shells of a gun were discovered in the crime scene, he said.
“We learned that just a couple of hours (after) the reported abduction, he was found already dead. And from the pieces of evidence gathered, mostly likely he was killed there (in Caloocan),” he said.
It was not clear how Lopez was brought to the funeral parlor. (Vanne Elaine P. Terrazola)