By ZALDY COMANDA
BAGUIO CITY – A lady pawnshop storekeeper was found dead inside the establishment she was working for in Abanao Street at 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday.
The victim, identified as Lindsay Vallejos Valdez, 23, was lying face down in a pool of blood, her mouth covered with packing tape and her hands tied behind her back with the same tape.
Police said the victim’s neck was slashed. The weapon had not been found.
Valdez was a resident of Lower Pinget and a native of Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
Police were called in after the store – 202 Cellfone Pawnshop – was left unattended.
Investigation showed that the victim opened the shop around 8:30 a.m. Based on the closed circuit television (CCTV) footage, a man entered the pawnshop around 8:50 a.m. and left around 9:07 a.m.
The man was wearing a surgical mask and had his umbrella opened.
Baguio City Police Office Director Sr. Supt. Ramil Saculles said there was no indication of forced entry and the pawned items remained intact inside the locker room except the P87,434 content of the metal cash box that was found open.
“We are investigating the crime. The owner is already doing the inventory of the valuables in the shop,” Saculles said.
He added that the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) has lifted finger prints on the packing tape which could lead to the identification of the suspect using police records.
Saculles said employees of adjacent stores did not hear any commotion.
A customer was seen waiting outside the pawnshop and became suspicious, prompting him to ask police for help.
“Severe blood loss secondary to incised wound in the neck. Transecting the trachea, esophagus and right carotid artery, then fracture between 4th and 5th neck vertebra caused the death of the victim,” Supt. Rodrigo Leal, medico legal officer of the PNP Crime Laboratory Service who did the autopsy said.”