FHM model found dead

OLONGAPO CITY – A model for a popular male magazine and three others were found dead inside her apartment in Barangay Gordon Heights here early yesterday.

Initial reports said responding policemen found the body of model Scarlet Garcia, 27, inside her apartment along with three others, who all appeared to have been shot.

Garcia, who reportedly graced the cover of a 2007 issue of FHM magazine, was found slumped inside the bathroom along with her cousin Rachel Estacio, 25.

The lifeless bodies of Garcia’s live-in partner Jorge Vitug Castor Jr., 29, and Estacio’s live-in partner Von Mark Bandejas, 28, were found in the apartment’s living room.

Police said the two men were found with their arms and ankles tied with plastic cord.

All four victims, including Garcia’s pet dog, were shot, Olongapo City Police chief Senior Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta said.

Villacorta said policemen discovered the bodies after firemen responded to reports of a fire breaking out inside Garcia’s apartment on Acacia Street.

Responding firemen found the bullet-riddled bodies after putting out the fire that started on the third floor of the apartment.

Villacorta said investigators found a police uniform and several spent .45 caliber and 9 mm casings at the crime scene, bolstering initial theories that two or more gunmen were behind the attack.

Villacorta said the suspects may have tried to burn down the apartment to conceal the crime.

He said the bodies of the two male victims were partly burned.

Investigators are looking into the possibility of robbery as a motive, since the rented apartment was completely in shambles.

Villacorta, however, doubted that robbery was the motive since there were no signs of forcible entry. He said the crimes could have been motivated by business rivalry or jealousy.

Aside from working as a model, Garcia was also a contract artist of Viva Hot Babes, a popular sexy sing-and-dance group.

Villacorta said several witnesses earlier saw one of the suspects bringing out several items from a Toyota Vios car owned by Garcia.

Reports said a former barangay chairman Damian delos Santos, who lived across the street, was awakened when the alarm of the car sounded. He said he saw two men in a blue colored vehicle parked nearby, and one of the suspects had just opened the Vios car and gathered some items to bring to their vehicle.

Investigators said the victims had moved into one of the units of the apartment a month ago, but it was only last Saturday that they transferred to the second unit. - With Ric Sapnu