Fiancé of missing bride-to-be now considered person of interest in case
The fiancé of the bride-to-be who has been missing for a week is now considered a person of interest by police.
According to reports from News5, Mark Arjay Reyes underwent a nearly seven-hour interrogation with the Quezon City Police District in connection with the disappearance of his fiancée, Sherra de Juan.
"[Si Mark] 'yung isa sa talaga na kinukumbinsi natin na kung puwedeng sabihin lahat, hagga't maaari sabihin niya kung ano talaga 'yung puno't dulo. I think siya ang makakapagbigay sa amin talaga ng magandang statement kung bakit talaga umalis si Ms. Sherra," said PCol. Randy Glenn Silvio, acting district director of QCPD in an interview with the outlet.
"'Yun din ang pakiusap namin sa kanya, hangga't maaari...full cooperation," he added. So far, said Silvio, Reyes has been "very cooperative."
In a police investigation, a person of interest is not yet considered a suspect. The term merely gives police the flexibility to further question or investigate certain individuals without having to arrest them.
According to Silvio, the investigation is ongoing. He meets with the Special Investigation Team daily, and participants of the entire operation are in a Viber group where all developments and actions taken are reported in real time.
Reacting to this new development, Reyes, as reported by ABS CBN News, said, "Ok lang po sakin. Basta gumulong ang imbestigasyon at masiguro yung agarang paghahanap kay mahal."
Reyes and de Juan were supposed to get married on Dec. 14. But in the afternoon of Dec. 10, de Juan left supposedly for a mall in north Fairview to buy wedding shoes, and she has not returned.
She was captured in CCTV footage on Atherton St. on the day she disappeared but none gave definite clues about her whereabouts. According to the QCPD investigation, CCTV cameras in the mall de Juan said she was headed to did not yield anything, either. On Saturday, they saw footage of a woman they believed may have been de Juan getting on a bus on Commonwealth Ave.
Acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered Philippine National Police units in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces to combine their search efforts. He also authorized a special investigation team to pursue all angles in the case.
“I have tasked the Quezon City Police District to exhaust all measures to solve this case. All our units in Metro Manila and nearby areas were alerted and directed to assist,” Nartatez said.
Earlier on Dec. 17, QCPD assured that they had not seen evidence of foul play yet. Aside from questioning Reyes, they also interrogated de Juan's brother Mark and her best friend.
Reyes and the de Juan family are offering P150,000 for valid information on the whereabouts of de Juan.
