BORACAY – The death of two tourists on Boracay Island is now considered a ‘case closed’.
The woman died from strangulation and her companion died of self-inflicted wounds to the thigh, police said.
Police believed it was the male tourist who killed the Australian national through strangulation. After killing her, the male tourist presumably committed suicide.
The bodies were found by hotel staff who went to check them in their room on the morning of March 21, 2022. They immediately alerted the local police.
The two, both 44 years old, arrived on Boracay Island on March 13 and stayed in a hotel in Barangay Balabag.
Both were also tested negative for coronavirus disease after authorities conducted reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests in Ciriaco S. Tirol Hospital.
Malay police chief Lt. Col. Don Dicksie De Dios said the laptop computers, jewelry, cash, and mobile devices in the hotel room were left untouched.
The valuables were turned over by Malay PNP to the immediate families of the victims.
“The woman had blunt force trauma to the back of her head and strangulation injury to the neck. The male tourist had injuries to his lower extremities and left and right legs. Homicide-suicide happened,” De Dios said in an interview on Radyo Todo Aklan 88.5 FM on April 1, 2022.
There was no foul play or forced entry into the hotel room where the tourists were found lifeless by the hotel staff.
“The man left about 9 a.m. and then returned to the bedroom, and never goes out. The cutter blade used by the man was recovered inside,” he added.
De Dios said the island remains a safe destination for tourists despite the isolated homicide-suicide case./PN
