“The police are waiting to obtain Matubis’ dental records so they can continue with the investigation,” Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lei Ogumoro yesterday said.
Police said although Matubis’ brother, Arnold, identified the personal belongings, including a CNMI driver’s license found near the recovered skeletal remains, to be those of his missing brother, and although the recovered remains are “presumptive positive” to be Alex Matubis’s, they cannot release an official statement until proper examinations have been conducted.
Police said if the skeletal remains belonged to Matubis, they still have to establish the cause of death.
Chief Prosecutor Kevin A. Lynch told reporters yesterday that they are waiting for all the records and documents from DPS and are consult with them regarding the next course of action to take.
“We will be working with Dr. Aurelio Espanola, the Guam-based pathologist, who has experience in these matters to conduct a forensic examination on the skeleton,” Lynch said.
He added that a forensic examination may possibly determine the cause of death.
“Even though it’s reported that skeletal remains are all that police recovered, it won’t end the inquiry, because we have to check if there may be criminal liability or other circumstances,” Lynch said.
He added that there have been several cases when an examination of the bones or the clothing or skeleton could tell a lot about how a person died, “but we have to get reports, photographs and others to know what next course to take.”
Alex Matubis worked for Castro & Associates for 22 years.
He was reported missing on July 19 last year. His blue Toyota pickup truck was recovered near Kalabera Cave in Marpi on Aug. 19.
At about 11 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2009, two farmers discovered the skeletal remains in a jungle near a farm lot in Marpi.
