MANILA, Philippines — Beauty pageant contestant Geneva Lopez and her Israeli fiancé Yitshak Cohen passed away from gunshot wounds, according to a report released on Sunday by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). GMA News reports that the autopsy results showed that each of the two victims had two gunshot wounds.
Lopez suffered a fracture after taking gunshot wounds to the left thigh and back of her body. Cohen was wounded near his armpit and in his left chest. Testing for ballistics will be conducted on the bullet discovered within Lopez’s body. DNA analysis has been delayed by the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO).
On June 22, relatives reported that Yitshak Cohen, 37, and Geneva Lopez, 27, who was a candidate for Mutya ng Pilipinas Pampanga 2023, were missing. A property they intended to buy was inspected by the couple when they traveled to Capas, Tarlac.
Barangay Cristo Rey in Capas discovered the couple’s sport utility vehicle burned on June 24. Two remains found in a decomposing state in Barangay Sta on Saturday. The identification of Lucia, Capas, and Tarlac as belonging to Lopez and Cohen was verified by their clothes and the belongings that were discovered with them.
Lopez and Cohen’s family members properly identified their bodies by the clothing they were wearing on June 21, according to PNP public information officer Col. Jean Fajardo.
Two former police officers are among the five people of interest who Fajardo said are being held by the police. For illegal gun possession, they were each detained in Tarlac separately.
