Middleman in missing pageant candidate case an ex-cop – police

HAVE YOU SEEN THEM? Relatives of Geneva Lopez, a Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2024 candidate, and her boyfriend, Yitchak Cohen, have continued to appeal for public help in finding them. They were last seen in Tarlac province on Friday after inspecting an agricultural land that they were intending to buy. —PHOTO FROM PRESY CARREON LOPEZ FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — The middleman who met with the missing Pampanga beauty pageant candidate and her Israeli boyfriend before they disappeared was a former police officer, Capas police chief Lt. Col. Librado Maranang Jr. said on Monday.

“Yes, he was a former policeman; before he was dismissed from service, he was assigned to the Angeles City Police Office,” Maranang told reporters in Filipino in a phone patch interview.

According to reports, Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2024 candidate Geneva Lopez and Yitchak Cohen met someone in Tarlac to check a 20.5-hectare agricultural land they intended to buy.

READ: Tarlac cops still have no leads on missing couple

Maranang said the police have yet to gather more information on the middleman’s background, such as why he was dismissed from service.

“We have not obtained his background; we haven’t talked to him again. We only communicate with his lawyer,” he added.

According to police reports, Lopez and Cohen were last seen around 2 p.m. on June 21, while their gray Nissan Terra sport utility vehicle was found burning along the Capas-San Jose Road in Cristo Rey village at 2:36 a.m. on June 22.

In an earlier radio interview, Maranang said the police were examining what seemed like a burned “cellphone or tablet” found inside the vehicle. He also said they were searching for witnesses to help them locate the two and appealed to anyone with information to cooperate with authorities.