Body of Israeli man, girlfriend found in Philippines

The corpses of an Israeli man and his girlfriend were found over the weekend in the Philippines, some two weeks after they went missing.

The bodies of Yitzhak Cohen, 37, and Geneva Lopez, 27, were found in Capas, in Tarlac Province in the Central Luzon region. They were last seen on June 21, and authorities located their burned-out car shortly thereafter.

Lopez’s family confirmed that personal belongings found in the SUV, including an ID card, belonged to the missing woman, the local 24 Oras outlet reported.

Cohen, who had been living with Lopez in the city of Angeles, north of Manila, was reportedly the last one to drive the car.

“We are backtracking the CCTV footage. And whatever footage we get, we can enhance to see the occupants,” Angeles City police chief Col. Amado Mendoza Jr. told the Filipino news site Rappler at the time.

An initial probe indicated that Cohen and Lopez were traveling to Tarlac for a meeting regarding a real estate transaction. Authorities said the people they were supposed to meet were cooperating with police.

The Israeli embassy in Manila was assisting in the transfer of Cohen’s remains to Israel.