“Remember, this case is being treated as a homicide, which is standard procedure until sufficient evidence, assessment and evaluation is concluded and final determination is made,” Mafnas said.
Ana Mangohig, in an interview, said “everything stands still” as she and their other relatives wait for official confirmation that the remains belonged to their uncle Ricardo Muna Quitugua, 72.
“We cannot do anything. We only cleaned his house,” she said, adding they fear that criminal-minded persons might ransack their uncle’s tin shack since no one was staying there.
Mangohig recalled how his Uncle Rick, also known Tangrikat, would help them perform chores and tell them stories.
“He had a good heart. He would help my mom and us get wood in the boonies. He was a very helping guy. He never made you angry,” Mangohig said.
Mangohig said their Uncle Rick wanted to live alone.
She said he was a “very nice and a silent person.”
“He did not bother anyone. He would not respond or wave, unless you made the first move,” she added.
She said Quitugua depended on his monthly Social Security checks.
Their uncle, she added, once worked as a seaman for cargo ships travelling to the Philippines.
He also worked as a gardener for Coral Ocean Point and Laolao Bay Resort, she said.
She recalled that Quitugua started to become irritable in 2000. He had concerns with his ears, she said.
“We were told by the [Commonwealth Health Center] doctor to be patient and prepare for the worse because he was getting old,” she said.
Superior Court records showed that Quitugua was charged with assault, criminal trespass, and disturbing the peace in March 2006, but the case was dismissed.
His relatives said they would like to know from authorities what were the charges, or the basis of his detention, in Nov. 2010 and July 2011.
Quitugua had told his relatives that some individuals “promised to kill me.”
He refused to name the individuals to his nieces, fearing they too might get hurt.
On Tuesday, this reporter visited Quitugua’s shack, and found Mangohig, her sister Maria Babauta Badiang, together with their spouses, cleaning it.
There were a lot of newspapers — past issues of the Variety — inside the tin shack.
Mangohig said their Uncle Rick loved to read the newspaper.
“I remember he had a visitor and he told me to buy newspaper. I was scolded because I bought Tribune. He said ‘you only buy Variety.’ ”
