Owner of car used in kidnapping turns himself in to Pasay City police
by Joseph Almer PedrajasThe owner of the car whose license plate was reportedly stolen and implicated in the suspicious disappearances of some of the nine missing teenagers in Pasay City showed up to the police on Thursday.
Lt. Allan Valdez, chief of Pasay City Police Station Investigation and Detective Management Branch (SIDBM), said that Michael Mejia, 37, businessman and a resident of Batasan, Quezon City, turned up at the police station around 11 a.m. to clear his name.
According to Valdez, Mejia said his car was parked on Mabuhay St. near the Philippine Heart Center Hospital in Quezon City on April 25, 2015 when noticed that his car plate was stolen.
His friend’s car plate was also stolen on the same day, he added.
Mejia was implicated in the disappearance of Sebastian Montoya on November 22 as the Hi-Ace Van which was used in taking the 22-year-old victim bore his car’s plate number.
Between November 20 and 22, nine young persons – one female and eight male – aged 15 to 23 reportedly disappeared in the city.
In a statement, Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano said that she already ordered the police to investigate the disappearances.
Despite the manner of the teenagers’ disappearances, Yang said in a press conference on Tuesday that they could still not consider it as kidnapping.
“I will make clear that this is not kidnapping. They are only missing persons,” Yang said.
He stressed that the police already have a lead on the incident. But, he did not disclose any other details as continuous operation was already ongoing.
READ MORE: Police probe suspicious disappearances in Pasay, Pasay police forms task force to find missing youths