HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Guam Police Department is seeking the community’s assistance in an auto-pedestrian fatality and a missing person investigation which may be linked.
GPD issued a press release on Thursday with updates on “two significant investigations,” which include an auto-pedestrian fatality that occurred on Nov. 13, 2020, and a missing person case that was reported in March 2022.
The traffic fatality in November 2020, GPD said, resulted in the death of an individual who “sustained injuries beyond recognition” and attempts to find the deceased’s next of kin were impeded not only by the the absence of family members coming forward, but also with the COVID-19 pandemic “complicating the investigation process.”
“Further complicating matters, it was later discovered that the pedestrian had tested positive for COVID-19. Despite exhaustive efforts, no family members had initially come forward to claim the remains,” GPD stated in the release, before suggesting the investigation may be linked to a missing person report filed for 26-year-old Manuel “Manny” Enriquez Santos, who was last seen in November 2020.
GPD said detectives on Santos’ case recently learned Santos had been cremated in 2021 “by a nonprofit service that provides Christian burials for indigent and unclaimed individuals.” However, autopsy photos of the “John Doe” in the auto-pedestrian collision were compared to most recent photos and booking photos of Santos and revealed “striking similarities” between the two.
“Identical mole placements and birthmarks confirmed the connection between the two individuals,” police stated.
While GPD also confirmed Santos’ family members were updated Monday regarding Santos’ missing person report, GPD is requesting information from the community on either case.
“The Guam Police Department urges anyone with information related to either the auto-pedestrian fatality or the missing person case of Manuel Enriquez Santos to contact the Guam Highway Patrol Division or the Criminal Investigation Division,” GPD said in the release.
According to a Guam Daily Post story published on Nov. 13, 2020, an auto-pedestrian fatality occurred along Route 16 near the Micronesia Mall at around 4:30 a.m., however GPD could not officially confirm if this is the crash mentioned in the press release.
Additionally, the missing person report for Santos was first published by the Post in March 2022 and again in July 2023. The report stated Santos, who was described as being 5 feet, 8 inches tall and about 120 pounds, was last seen at Pacific Gardens in Dededo in November 2020.
Manuel “Manny” Enriquez Santos was last seen at Pacific Gardens in Dededo in November 2020.
