The divers scouring Lapu-Lapu City seawaters for the remains of Mayor Gisela Boniel on Tuesday went beyond their initial search zone reaching areas leading to Camotes Islands, said a Cebu police official.
According to Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO) chief Sr. Supt. Romel Cabagnot, the search team moved slightly away from Caubian and Olango Islands where the previous operations were centered.
“We followed the current and we dove in areas where it led to yesterday and today. Actually, the [current] we followed earlier was going to Camotes,” Cabagnot told the Chronicle in Cebuano.
According to the police official, the divers also found what appeared to be an underwater cave but they concluded it was unlikely that the body made it through its crevice.
“Divers went in but not entirely. It was too deep,” Cabagnot said.
“We tried to gauge if there was a possibility that the body went in there, but it seemed unlikely that it passed through the hole,” he added.
The underwater search earlier today was part of the 17th day of retrieval operations which still did not yield the mayor’s body or items indicating its presence in the area.
Search for Boniel’s remains was terminated by the Central Visayas police command on Tuesday last week but was eventually relaunched before the end of the week.
The first dive was carried out yesterday after a six-day hiatus. (Rey Tutas)