Body of missing OFW in Saipan found

HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV

SUSUPE, Saipan – The body of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who had been reported missing in the US island of Saipan since July 29 was found on Saturday, Jan. 24, at a farm lot.

The remains of Alex Matubis, along with his pair of boots and back pack, were discovered by two farmers at their farm lot in the northern village of Marpi past 11 a.m. that day.

Police later found Matubis’s wallet and driver’s license in the deceased’s possession.

The Department of Public Safety of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (DPS) told the media that detectives are further investigating the case. Police have yet to release information as to whether there’s foul play.

The CNMI Crime Stoppers offered up to $1,000 to anyone who could provide information on the whereabouts of Matubis.

The blue pickup truck that Matubis had been driving until the day of his disappearance was found 18 days later on August 16 but no trace of him was found.

Matubis had been working as a draftsman/surveyor with Castro & Associates in Saipan for almost 23 years.

In early September, his wife Maria Luisa Fatima Matubis traveled to Saipan from the Philippines to personally appeal for the public’s help in finding her husband of 15 years.

“I feel that he’s alive. Every one of us in the family is hoping he’s still alive," Mrs. Matubis earlier told GMANews.TV.

She went back to the Philippines in November without having information as to where her husband was. She and her husband met for the first time in Saipan in 1990. After their marriage, Mrs. Matubis went back to the Philippines.

The Matubis couple has two children – a 16-year-old nursing student and a 14-year-old high school student. They live in San Pedro, Laguna.

Mrs. Matubis said she last saw her husband on June 28, 2008, the day when Alex Matubis returned to Saipan after a 45-day vacation in the Philippines.

Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila. - GMANews.TV

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