P.3-M reward offered for information on trader’s slay

The family of Evan Tan, a 29-year-old trader who was abducted last Jan. 9 in Caloocan City and later found dead with two bullet wounds in the head in Bulacan, offered yesterday a P300,000 reward for any information which may lead to the identification and arrest of the killers.

Superintendent Dionisio Borromeo, city police intelligence chief, said Willie Ng, a close relative of the victim and stands as the family’s spokesman, went to his office yesterday morning to inform the police about the reward.

"The P300,000 reward could help our investigation and lead to the early resolution of the case," Borromeo told The STAR.

He, however, refused to divulge more information the police have or any development on Tan’s case.

"Our investigation is getting results" he said. He refused to elaborate.

The National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAFTF) turned back the investigation of the case to the local police after it was established that it was not the handiwork of a kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) group.

Tan, manager of a family-owned plastics firm, left their residence in Caloocan City at around 11 p.m. last Jan. 9 aboard a dark blue Toyota Corolla (WJV-774).

His family sought police assistance after he failed to return the following day.

The victim was observed in high spirits while talking to someone on his cell phone before he boarded his car.

On Jan. 13, Tan’s car was found abandoned in a vacant lot in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan. Police, however, failed to find clues that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators.

Two days after Tan’s car was recovered, the victim’s body was found along a grassy area near the highway in Barangay Bitongol, Norzagaray, also in Bulacan.

Neither Tan nor his abductors contacted his family, prompting police to conclude that it was not a KFR case. – Pete Laude, Jerry Botial