Daven Tamayo

Victim in storage box case alerted mother to partner’s death threat, hours before she was slain

Article (news)

Dennis Datu

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The woman whose body was found inside a plastic storage box had been able to report to her mother that she was being threatened with death by her live-in partner, a security guard, just hours before she was killed on New Year’s Day.According to victim&#x27;s cousin Mae Jean Abamongan, from her rented apartment unit, Anelis Agocoy managed to call her mother, who lives in Catarman, Camiguin to recount the suspect’s death threats.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/1/7/suspek-sa-pagpatay-ng-babae-sa-storage-box-sumuko-0749">Suspek sa pagpatay ng babae sa storage box sumuko</a></div>Based on the victim’s account to her mother, the suspect allegedly said: “Kapag may nangyari daw po sa kanya, wala daw po maghahanap  sa kanya.”“Tapos nagkwento yung pinsan ko sa ina niya, nagsabi pa daw yung suspek na papatayin daw po siya,“ Abamongan added.At 8:34 p.m. on New Year’s Day, CCTV footage captured the suspect at the Turbina bus terminal in Calamba City, boarding a bus bound for Daet, Camarines Norte, while carrying the storage box containing the victim’s body.The box was later recovered on Friday morning in the river of Barangay Pinagwarasan in Basud, Camarines Norte.Investigators said that after dumping the box into the river, the suspect checked into a hotel in Basud before taking another bus back to Laguna.Authorities noted that he even returned to the same apartment where the crime took place, appearing disoriented.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/6/victim-suspect-in-body-in-box-case-now-identified-1206">READ: Victim, suspect in &#x27;body-in-box&#x27; case now identified</a></div>Police said the suspect also made a brief stop in Manila before proceeding to his sibling’s home in Calaca City, Batangas.The Camarines Norte Police Provincial Office Intelligence Unit coordinated with the suspect’s father and persuaded him to surrender his son, who at the time was reportedly on his way to his mother’s home in Rosario, Batangas. The father later located his son and turned him over to the police.The suspect denied committing murder, telling authorities, “Hindi ko po sinabi na ako ang pumatay sir, hindi ko po sinasadya ang nangyari.”But according to the suspect’s father, his son claimed the victim lost consciousness after he unintentionally pushed her during a heated argument. He said that in a state of panic, he placed the victim inside the storage box.Abamongan, however, rejected the suspect’s explanation and insisted the killing was intentional.“Dapat dinala sa ospital, hindi yun tinapon-tapon basta-basta kung saan-saan, kung patay yun pinsan ko dapat  binigay niya sa amin hindi yung ibininiyahe pa niya ng malayo,” Abamongan said.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/1/6/apartment-linked-to-body-in-box-case-found-victim-s-live-in-partner-eyed-as-suspect-2351">READ: Laguna apartment linked to body-in-box case found</a></div>The suspect refused to issue further statements, maintaining he will only speak in court.Abamongan said the family felt a sense of relief seeing the suspect behind bars.“Makulong siya habangbuhay, hindi po kami papayag na makapagpiyansa siya at makalabas, kailangan niya bayaran  ginawa sa pinsan ko,” the victim&#x27;s cousin said.The autopsy report listed the cause of death as asphyxia by suffocation, but police said it remains unclear whether the victim was still alive when she was placed inside the box.“Yun din po ang kailangan naming maestablish kung kailan siya namatay. Wala din po kami idea kasi wala po nakakita, kung hindi yung suspek lang natin,” said Police Captain Mark Armea, chief of the Basud Municipal Police Station.A murder charge is set to be filed against the suspect in the Cabuyao City Prosecutors Office.

The woman whose body was found inside a plastic storage box had been able to report to her mother that she was being threatened with death by her live-in partner, a security guard, just hours before she was killed on New Year’s Day.

The woman whose body was found inside a plastic storage box had been able to report to her mother that she was being threatened with death by her live-in partner, a security guard, just hours before she was killed on New Year’s Day.