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GMA News exclusive: Campbell’s sis says family not outraged by killing


The older sister of the slain US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell on early Saturday said their family was not outraged by the death of the humanitarian worker but instead was relieved that the body was found. “We are still grateful that she was found and we wished obviously that she had been found living," Geary Campbell Morris told GMA News Saksi in an exclusive telephone interview. “We have a very strong faith…my mother is a devout Catholic and we have a strong faith and we believe that [Julia] is with God." Geary said members of the Campbell family are grateful that Filipinos have been praying for Julia. Asked if there is outrage in the family over the killing, Geary said: “We are really focused on celebration of her life." She thanked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Armed Forces for the immediate recovery of Julia’s remains. Geary said they are making preparations for the US burial of Julia, ruling out travel to the Philippines to get the Peace Corps volunteer’s remains. But she said: “I want to be where she walked on in Banaue at some point in life." Campbell whose body was found buried in a shallow grave in Batad village in Banaue has been bludgeoned and a manhunt for a suspect has been launched, the Philippine National Police said Friday. Campbell's body was found Wednesday, 10 days after she went missing during a solo hike in the village of Batad in Banaue township to see the area's famed mountainside rice terraces. "We have found a piece of wood in the vicinity of the suspect's house. We believe this was the instrument used in hitting Julia," police Director General Oscar Calderon told a radio interview. He said police found what appeared to be bloodstains on the wood. "There is a semblance really of foul play and that she is a victim because she was buried," he said. "The manhunt is under way." Campbell's face appeared to have been injured by blows from a hard object, Senior Superintendent Pedro Ganir, police chief of Ifugao province, which includes Banaue, said. He declined to give other details pending forensic tests. Ganir earlier said investigators were looking into "robbery with homicide or rape with homicide" — common motives when women disappear in the country — but he said he had no evidence without an autopsy. Police said the autopsy will be conducted Saturday. US military forensic experts will be flying to Manila from Maryland to observe the procedure, the US Embassy said. Troops found Campbell's body in a dry creek, covered with soil, gravel and grass. Police said a dog had dug out one of her feet by the time soldiers found her. Ganir said the man has been identified as the husband of the woman who sold Campbell a Coca-Cola before she proceeded with her hike. Campbell — a freelance journalist who had reported for The New York Times and other media organizations — was among 137 Peace Corps volunteers now in the Philippines. She had been teaching English at the Divine Word College in Albay province's Legazpi city, southeast of Manila, since October 2006. She also helped launch an ecology awareness campaign and build an Eco Center in Donsol in Sorsogon province, famous for whale sharks. Annie Lledo, head of Divine Word's English department, said the school staff, students and teachers could not hold back tears during a Mass for Campbell late Wednesday. "When she did not show up on April 11 ... to serve as one of the usherettes during the graduation ceremonies, everybody concluded that something was wrong. Julia never abandons her duties," she said. - GMANews.TV

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