Crime scene investigators recovered from the remains found Saturday in Marpi a wallet containing a CNMI driver\u2019s license issued to missing Filipino surveyor, Alex M. Matubis.<\/p>\n
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lei Ogumoro said yesterday that detectives are currently working on obtaining Matubis\u2019 dental records to positively link the remains to him.<\/p>\n
Ogumoro said the remains, mostly just the skeleton, were found in a secluded farm owned by a certain Camacho. The farm is about a 10-minute drive west of Kalabera Cave, where investigators found Matubis\u2019 abandoned vehicle last Aug. 19.<\/p>\n
DPS Commissioner Santiago F. Tudela told Saipan Tribune yesterday that, although investigation is still ongoing, their initial analysis seems to show that the victim committed suicide by hanging himself on a cow fence.<\/p>\n
Ogumoro said that on Saturday at 11:18am two male farmers reported to DPS that they had found human remains at their farm lot.<\/p>\n
Ogumoro said a preliminary investigation showed that one of the farmers was searching for their cows when he discovered a pair of boots and a backpack in the jungle area northeast of the farm grounds.<\/p>\n
The farmer then discovered the human remains. He also saw personal belongings near the remains. Police were then immediately called.<\/p>\n
Crime scene investigators located a wallet within the deceased\u2019s possession and found Matubis\u2019 CNMI driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n
Since detectives do not have positive identification on the remains, Ogumoro said they are working on getting Matubis\u2019 dental records to match it with the victim\u2019s dentures.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetectives are further investigating this case,\u201d Ogumoro said, adding that detectives are still trying to determine the cause of death.<\/p>\n
It is not clear yet whether the Attorney General\u2019s Office will agree to an autopsy on the remains.<\/p>\n
The DPS spokesperson said that, when found, the remains still had on a light blue inner shirt, camouflage rain jacket, and fatigue pants.<\/p>\n
Ogumoro said the case is classified as a dead person and not as a homicide.<\/p>\n
The 47-year-old Matubis has been reported missing since July 30 last year. On Aug. 8 or 11 days after the story of his mysterious disappearance appeared in newspapers, DPS received a call that the surveyor was sighted in the Marpi area.<\/p>\n
When police responded to the area, they discovered on the same day Matubis\u2019 Toyota pickup abandoned near Kalabera Cave.<\/p>\n
Last July 28, Matubis went to Tinian to do some project. The following day, he went back to Saipan. That day, he sent a large amount of money to his wife in the Philippines. He did not return to his barracks, prompting his employer to report to DPS his disappearance.<\/p>\n
Malou Matubis, wife of Alex Matubis, earlier told Saipan Tribune when she came on Saipan a couple of months ago that they don\u2019t have a problem because \u201che is a very religious and supportive of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crime scene investigators recovered from the remains found Saturday in Marpi a wallet containing a CNMI driver\u2019s license issued to missing Filipino surveyor, Alex M. Matubis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}