Seized trader found dead; 3 suspects fall

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — A businessman who was abducted last Sunday was found dead in Mexico, Pampanga last Wednesday, hours after three of his kidnappers were arrested in a botched payoff in Baliuag, Bulacan.

Superintendent Paterno Orduna, newly installed regional head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), identified the suspects as Danilo Catacutan, 37; Roel Vergara, 30; and Abelardo Ocampo, 53.

The kidnap victim, Ariel Faustino, a 30-year-old businessman of Bustos, Bulacan, was snatched in front of a church in Mexico town. His wife, Julie Ann, later reported to the police that he was missing.

Last Wednesday morning, Julie Ann got a cellular phone call from a certain "Kumander" who demanded P50,000 ransom in exchange for her husband’s release.

"Kumander," whom police said is Catacutan, asked that the money be delivered in Barangay Tilapayong in Baliuag town that day.

Combined elements of the CIDG-Region 3, Pampanga police and the Regional Investigation and Intelligence Division cornered the three suspects in a brief chase after the payoff.

Seized from them were the ransom money, a brown wallet belonging to Faustino, a loaded caliber .38 revolver, a motorcycle and a Nokia 3310 phone.

After the payoff, Julie Ann had to rush to Mexico town where policemen found a body in an advanced state of decomposition. The body turned out to be Faustino’s.