Two Americans arrested over friend’s death in Philippines

Manila: Police in the Philippines on Sunday arrested two Americans, after a taxi driver identified them as the people who booked a trip that turned out to be a mission to dump a body.

The two suspects, Troy Woody Jr and Mir Islam, were picked up by Manila Police after a driver for a ride hailing service identified them as the pair he picked up just past midnight on Saturday.

The trip turned out to be an operation to dispose the body of another American, 23-year-old Tomi Michelle Masters of Indiana.

According to the driver, Woody and Islam contacted him through a ride hailing service at around midnight on Sunday.

They requested to be picked up at Woody’s condominium in Mandaluyong City.

As the cab arrived, a large brown cardboard box was loaded into the trunk by the duo.

From the condominium, the two told the driver to take them to go to Robinson’s Place in Manila.

However, before the cab could proceed, they requested that they instead be taken first to the Baseco area in Tondo.

Upon reaching an area in Baseco beside the Pasig River, the two threw the box they had been carrying in the trunk into the water.

Several minutes after dropping off his passengers, the driver, suspicious over the contents of the box, reported the matter to the Manila Police.

Authorities proceeded to Baseco and recovered the package.

As it turned out, the box contained the body of Masters who was said to be the girlfriend of Woody.

The case was initially with the Manila Police, but later on, it was transferred to Mandaluyong City since investigators believed that Masters was killed in side Woody’s condominium.

Reports said both Woody and Islam were employed as officials of Luxr LLC.

A search online pointed to Luxr LLC as being a company involved in crypto currency trading involving Bitcoins.

The motive for the slaying is still unclear but the US Embassy is said to be looking into the matter involving the three Americans.