CEBU CITY—Four men were brutally killed and buried in a secluded area in Barangay Cogon, Compostela town northern Cebu.
The bodies of the four men were dug up last Tuesday.
The bodies were discovered when some residents noticed fresh diggings in the area.
Among those found was a severed head.
“We are still trying to find the severed body of one of the victims. We had to stop the search because of the heavy rains in the past few days,” said Capt. Vincent Zozobrado, chief of the Compostela Police Station.
One of the victims was identified as Elmer Cañeda Enanoria, a 20-year-old construction worker who lived in Barangay Bulacao-Pardo in Cebu City.
Based on the autopsy conducted by Dr. Benjamin Lara of the PNP Crime Laboratory Central Visayas, Enanoria suffered 16 stab wounds.
The two other bodies also bore multiple stab wounds.
“The bodies are already in the state of decomposition. According to the autopsy, they were killed about four to six days before they were found,” said Zozobrado.
Zozobrado said illegal drugs links were being looked into as the possible motive for the crime.
According to his relatives, Enanoria was jailed in May, 2019, for illegal drug charges and was released a year after.
Enanoria was identified by his aunt through his tattoo marks.
Zozobrado said the man’s mother admitted that her son continued using illegal drugs after he was released from jail.
The mother recalled an instance when her son was instructed to buy shabu.
“The person who asked the victim to buy shabu got irked because he felt he was short changed. He asked the man to return the shabu but Enanario refused for fear that he would be caught in police checkpoints,” said Zozobrado.
Zozobrado said investigators are still looking for witnesses who could help them identify the suspects behind the crime.