Policemen close probe into Urgello Abduction

Police yesterday closed their investigation into the alleged abduction of 20-year-old Robert Philip Urgello, a scion of a prominent family in Cebu.

Supt. Paul Labra II, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch, said the result of their investigation was already submitted to regional police director Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio.

Labra refused to provide details on the result of their investigation, only saying that Alarcio will be the one to announce it.

In an interview over dyLA, Alarcio said he would first discuss with the family of Urgello the result of the investigation before he will release it to the media.

However, a police official said the investigation zeroed in on a personal conflict that Urgello is involved in, but Labra did not confirm it.

Urgello, a fourth year nursing student of a local university, was reportedly forced into a car by two men while waiting for his classmates outside an uptown hospital past 6:00 a.m. on July 21.

Urgello told police that he was blindfolded and taken to a safehouse.

According to the victim, more than two hours later, his abductors took him back to the car and freed him unharmed in Mandaue City. He then reported the incident to Labra.

His family said no ransom money was given to the abductors.

Labra said their investigation was based on the interviews of the victim's family and his classmates, adding that they also gathered testimonies of some witnesses. - Jose P. Sollano