Quezon City dad’s ex probed for drugs

MANILA, Philippines - Police are focusing on the connection between the suspected drug link of Quezon City Councilor Hero Bautista’s former partner and her disappearance, an official said yesterday.

Investigators have no other leads aside from Rio April Santos’ alleged link to the illegal drug trade “unless we get other information,” said Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director.

Santos was reported missing by her mother, Emiliana, two days after she was last seen on the night of Sept. 12 at her condominium unit in Barangay Bagumbayan.

Emiliana reported the disappearance to the Eastwood police after her daughter failed to contact her.

She recalled that her daughter told her that she was just going to buy some mineral water for her son.

Santos also told a friend that she was going to meet a certain “Major Rudolfo Lorenzo” for a date before she went missing, Emiliana said.

Santos was wearing a black dress and slippers when she went out.

Her BMW was also taken out of the parking garage during the time of the incident but the vehicle has yet to be located, according to Eleazar.

Police are set to view closed-circuit television footage at the condominium to check possible leads in Santos’ disappearance.

The case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit of the QCPD from the Eastwood police station.

Emiliana appealed to Mayor Herbert Bautista, the councilor’s older brother, for help on the disappearance of her daughter.

“Mayor, please help us. April has been missing for 10 days. Maybe you know something or maybe you can help us search for her. Please,” she said in Filipino.

Bautista released a statement yesterday, urging the QCPD to closely look into the matter as he said any intelligence report would ease the pain of the family.?

The younger Bautista, who took a leave from his office to undergo drug rehabilitation last month, and Santos have a four-year-old son and an “on-and-off relationship.”

Emiliana said somebody told her that her daughter was using drugs but she never personally witnessed it.

However, she denied that her daughter had any links to Maria Aurora Moynihan, the slain sister of actress Maritoni Fernandez. A placard left on her body stated that she was a drug supplier to celebrities.