PNP says boy found in Nueva Ecija is not de Guzman

September 11, 2017

The body of a 14-year-old boy thought to be Reynaldo de Guzman, the companion of a teenager who was found dead 10 days after he disappeared, is not the one discovered in Gapan, Nueva Ecija.

In a press briefing Monday, Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez, the Philippine National Police deputy chief for operations, said: " the result of the DNA test conducted tells us is not Reynaldo de Guzman."

Mendez said the PNP  conducted buccal swabbing. "They got samples from the mouth of both parents  and compared them with the sample taken from the cadaver, buccal swabbing also and blood samples," said Mendez.

But when told by reporters that the parents of de Guzman identified the body as their son, Mendez said: " the cadaver was identified by the parents, probably based on what that cadaver looked like when that cadaver was found."

"Since it was already bloated probably the physical descriptions were already changed so that's why they thought its the body of Reynaldo de Guzman but the result of the DNA test conducted tells us is not Reynaldo de Guzman," said Mendez.

The body of a boy, whose face was covered with packaging tape, who was stabbed at least 30 times was found dumped in a creek in Nueva Ecija, police said last week. The parents, Eduardo and Lina came and identified the boy as their son.

In a TV interview Public Attorney's Office chief Persida Rueda Acosta said "the parents of de Guzman were agitated." "The body was not bloated nor decomposed. He was identified by the parents," said Acosta. "I am amazed now."

Mendez said police tried to call Eduardo de Guzman and his wife Lina using the numbers they gave. "But but the numbers they gave as contacting numbers were changed or cannot be reached," said Mendez.

Mendez said police will continue looking for Reynaldo de Guzman "because Reynaldo de Guzman was reported missing. "

De Guzman and Carl Angelo Arnaiz were last reported to have left their home to have a midnight snack on August 18. Then, police said Arnaiz shot it out with them after he tried to rob  a taxi driver in Caloocan.

On Sunday, the taxi driver surfaced in a press conference and claimed the killing of Arnaiz was "scripted." DMS