Israeli man and his partner found dead in Philippines quarry after 2 weeks of searches

The bodies of an Israeli man and his girlfriend were found in a quarry in the Philippines on Saturday after two weeks of searches.

The bodies of Yitzhak Cohen, 37, and his partner, Geneva Lopez, 27, were found in Capas in Tarlac district.

They were identified by relatives, and the Israeli embassy is assisting in the transfer of Cohen’s coffin to Israel.

The couple had been living in the city of Angeles, north of the capital Manila.

A burned-out SUV believed to belong to Cohen and Lopez was found during searches, which began after Lopez’s sister raised the alarm on the missing pair.

Inside the vehicle, police discovered partially burned documents belonging to Lopez, reports said. Cohen is believed to have been the last person to drive the car.

According to reports, Lopez, who was a contestant last year in a regional beauty contest, had told her family that she and Cohen were going to the nearby town of Capas to meet with a man with whom they had a real estate deal in 2021.

Last week, Cohen’s brother Yaniv told the Ynet news site that Yitzhak had loaned that man money when his mother was sick, but the debt had not been repaid.

Instead, the man arranged the meeting with Yitzhak, telling him beforehand that he would give him land in exchange for the debt.