Two locals arrested in Filipina murder case

Cyprus police arrested two more suspects in connection with the murder of a Filipina woman and the disappearance of her young daughter who is feared dead.

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Two Greek Cypriot males, aged 30 and 35, were detained on Thursday night according to media sources following an investigation by the cyber crime unit. They were both taken in for questioning while they were remanded in custody for eight days during a court hearing on Friday, on charges related to premeditated murder, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice.

The 30-year-old suspect was described as the man whose photo appeared on a social media profile, believed to have been used by the 35-year-old suspect who had an affair with the victim, 38-year-old Marry Rose Tiburcio from the Philippines  Marry Rose was reported missing on 5 May 2018, a day after she was supposed to spend the night with her daughter at one of the suspect's home. No description of the nature of the affair between the victim and the suspect was made known but media sources said the two had known each other for six months.

Marry Rose’s body was recovered Sunday at an old and abandoned mine in Mitseros, Nicosia district, inside a flooded mine shaft elevator. Her 6-year-old daughter Sierra Graze Seucalliuc may also have been killed and her body dumped alongside her mother. A dewatering operation on Thursday was halted due to safety concerns, as investigators were said to be evaluating options for searching the well. Knews previously reported on media sources citing Navy Seals possibly being called into action due to the presence of mine shaft underground workings inside the well. 

The two suspects are believed to know each other through their service in the National Guard according to reports, with one suspected to have been the person behind the social media profile using the handle “Orestis” and striking up a relationship with the victim using the dating site Badoo. At least one of the suspects was questioned by police two days earlier but was not arrested, after investigators said they found nothing suspicious to warrant his arrest. Police are trying to ascertain whether the two suspects had advanced communication regarding Marry Rose or the social media profile used to contact her.

But police were criticized this week for not doing their due diligence following the missing complaint filed by the victim’s friend, a Filipina national, who also helped identify Marry Rose’s body. After the initial disappearance, it was reported that neither Marry Rose could be located nor her daughter or the local suspect with whom she had an affair.

An initial suspect in the case, a 33-year-old Romanian national, was released from custody on Friday following the arrest of the two local men. The man, who was arrested earlier this week on charges of premeditated murder, was also Marry Rose’s former boyfriend and father of the little girl. He vehemently denied any involvement in the case and charges were finally dropped.

The passport of Marry Rose was said to have been found at the residence of her female friend, where mother and child had been staying, while police said Sierra's passport was found in the Romanian man's home in Larnaca.