Suspects arrested in killing of policewoman, 8-year-old son

Police have nabbed three suspects linked to the killing of Senior M/Sgt. Diane Marie Mollenido and her eight-year-old son John Ysmael.

According to a Philippine STAR report, the suspects were arrested in two operations in Brgy. San Agustin and San Bartolome in Quezon City. They include a car agent, who is Diane's godchild; her husband, who is a dismissed cop; and their "striker."

On Feb. 1, GMA News reported that Diane's husband PSMS John Mollenido has also been arrested by the QCPD on Sunday. The husband was previously considered a person of interest.

Police had also retrieved P100,000 in cash and the phones of Diane and John Ysmael from the nabbing of the three suspects.

On Jan. 31, authorities recovered an abandoned SUV allegedly used to dump the victims' bodies in Angeles City, Pampanga. The alleged "striker" led police to the abandoned car.

The three suspects are now under the custody of the Quezon City Police District.

Diane's body was found in a creek along Pulilan-Baliuag Bypass Road on Jan. 24. She had a gunshot wound on her left ear.

Her son, meanwhile, was found dead in a calamansi farm in Tarlac more than a week later. Autopsy results showed that he died of asphyxia by suffocation, according to Central Luzon Police.

A police source told the STAR that a car transaction could be the possible motive behind the killings.

Southern Police District public information officer Lt. Margaret Panaga said Mollenido and her son were last seen on Jan. 16, when they were reportedly going to Novaliches to see her godchild.

When the two did not return home, Mollenido's husband and siblings reported them missing to authorities on Jan. 19.