Torres: We’ll get to bottom of that

Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres assured the community that law enforcement agencies are doing their best to solve the mystery of missing Saipan Fresh Market owner Zhi Yuan Li as well as the previous unsolved murders on Saipan that he hinted could all be interconnected.

“We should look at the situation closer and see what’s involved, knowing the fact that the last two victims were related to the missing storeowner. Whatever it is we need to get back to the roots of these [crimes]. It’s not coincidence I guess and it’s something we have to monitor,” he told Saipan Tribune after attending the Catholic School Week proclamation signing Tuesday at Mount Carmel School.

Torres added that in the case of Li and the homicide of his uncle as well as four other murders involving the Chinese community the past two years, the government would like to have those cases solved.

“We want to make sure that all crimes are investigated fairly. Certain crimes involve gambling, extortion, and drugs. We’ll get to the bottom of all of that,” he said.

In a media briefing last Tuesday, Department of Public Safety Commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero said the search for the missing Li is still ongoing. He also quashed rumors that the affable businessman’s body parts were found.

The 43-year-old Li is the nephew of Hai Ren Li, one of two Chinese farmers who were murdered and their bodies dumped at the old runway in Koblerville last November.

Last Feb. 23, the bodies of Guo Huang Xu and his wife, Qing Xiu Zheng, both farmers, were found charred inside their house that had been burned to the ground. Police classified the case as a double homicide.