Cops checking if dead woman was Pilapil's companion

A body of a woman was fished out of a river in Marikina City on Monday morning and police investigators are checking if it belonged to the companion of actress Pilar Pilapil when their vehicle was carjacked last week. Rosel Jacosalem Peñas, reportedly the niece of Pilapil’s partner, was missing since last Thursday when the Gold Kia Carnival car she and Pilapil were riding was carjacked at the Marikina Riverbanks area. Pilapil, bloody from stab wounds, was found before dawn Friday in a grassy portion of Piedra Blanca Homes subdivision in Antipolo City, while the suspects took Peñas with them. Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao, chief of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the lifeless woman was fished out of Tumana River in Marikina City. He said forensic experts from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory are “running finger print analysis and comparison on the dead body." The CIDG has already released a photograph of Peñas to the media to expedite the search for her. A special investigation group, Task Force Pilar, has also been formed to rescue Peñas and to arrest the suspects. No Unilever connection The CIDG also clarified that Peñas was not an employee of Unilever Philippines based on the records from the firm and the Social Security System. This was contrary to Pilapil’s earlier statement that Peñas used to work at Unilever. She also said that Peñas left Unilever two years ago to work in Australia. Further investigation also showed that the stolen vehicle, which Peñas was driving at the time of the crime, was not a company car of Unilever. Investigators are already coordinating with Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to check Peñas’ travel record and passport data. Pilapil earlier said Peñas arrived in the country from Australia last April 13. Police have earlier released a computerized artist sketch of one of the suspects involved in the assault. Pilapil’s brother Leo said his sister survived the attack after playing dead. She was rushed by residents living nearby to a hospital, where she was found to have sustained stab wounds in the face, neck, and arms. Pilapil was also stabbed in the armpit and the bladed weapon hit her left lung, which partially collapsed. She has already been declared to be under a stable condition. — KBK, GMA News