Suspected body of missing US Peace corps volunteer found in Ifugao

By Ronron
April 18, 2007

The suspected body of United States Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell was found lifeless on Wednesday morning in the northern Philippine province of Ifugao, military officials said.

Col. Victor Felix, commander of the Philippine Army’s 502nd Infantry Brigade, said in a phone interview yesterday that the cadaver was discovered at around 10:30 am by Army troops under him, “hastily buried” under a grassy area, except for a foot, in Barangay Battad, Banaue town.

Felix said the “protruding foot,” which bears a white complexion but already in a decomposing state, led troops to the site located along a creek.

“We can’t give positive identification yet. That will be the job of the Philippine National Police and the US Embassy people,” Felix said.

But he hinted that the cadaver was that of Campbell since it was found at the vicinity where she was last found alive on April 8, prior to going on hiking in the hilly side of Banaue.

According to a US Embassy statement last April 13, 2007, the 40-year-old Caucasian American was at the site, “unaccompanied.”

She had joined the Peace Corps Service in the country since March 2005, and served as a college teacher in Legazpi City in Albay.

Felix said the body will be subjected to autopsy for confirmation of her identify and to determine the cause of death.

“Two things will be done here – identification of the body and the crime behind it,” he said.

Felix said the body was covered with soil and grass, and was buried in a shallow grave.

He described the site to be remote from the residential community.

In a separate statement, Cordillera police spokesman Supt. Joseph Adnol said: “The theory raised is that Ms. Campbell was killed as she was found buried. The motive is still undetermined but crime cannot be discounted such as robbery and rape.”

The military had said that the place had long been cleared of communist insurgents.

Felix said the body remains at the site as of 4pm as the US government awaits the arrival of expert pathologists who will conduct forensic examination on it, along with the PNP forensic team./DMS