Police release sketch of gunman in Zamboanga del Sur resort owners' abduction

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The police have released a sketch of a one of the gunmen in the the abduction last Friday of a British national and his Filipina wife in a coastal town in Zamboanga del Sur.

This, as the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur puts up a P1-million reward for information that would lead to the rescue of the victims and arrest of the gunmen who took them from their resort at gunpoint.

Hyrons and his wife, who own Hyrons Beach Resort, were abducted Friday night by six gunmen from Barangay Alindahaw, a beachfront village some two kilometers away from the Tukuran town proper.

Police said two of the abductors posed as resort guests a day before seizing the victims. The abductors were in two motorized pumpboats that went in separate dirrections: one towards Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur and the other to Lanao del Norte.

Police Maj. Helen Galvez, spokesperson of Police Regional Office 9, said the computer-generated sketch provided by the police crime laboratory was a result of the accounts from witnesses.

"According to the witnesses, this suspect was one of the four suspects that abducted the victims," she said.

The kidnapper, still unidentified, described was around 30 to 35 years old, 5'6" tall, and with dark complexion

Another abductor caught on security cam

She said they will also release a picture of another of the gunment captured on security video.

"That person of interest captured in the CCTV footage was traced through a receipt of the convenient store which is equipped with CCTV," Galvez said.

Authorities cannot say yet if the kidnappers are members of the kidnap-for-ransom group or a local criminal gang.

“What we know is that with these photo and facial composite that we have we are establishing their identities and perhaps we can establish as to who they are and whose group abducted the victims,” Galvez added.

She said Hyrons had been living in Barangay Alindahaw since 2013 and "has  very good relations with their neighborhood and has been complacent with his security." The resort did not have a CCTV system installed, and did not have a security guard.

Galvez said the police regional office has set up hotlines for informants to get in touch with Police Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla, PRO-9 director.

Maj. Arvin John Encinas, spokesman of Western Mindanao Command, said the Task Group ‘Hyrons’—spearheaded by Maj. Gen. Roberto Ancan, commander of 1st Division and Joint Task Force ZamPeLan (Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao)—has mobilized its forces for the rescue operation.

According to Encinas, they already have some leads on where the couple and their abductors could be but gave no further details because of ongoing operations.