MANILA, Philippines — A United States marine suspected for the killing of a Filipino transgender woman in Olongapo was detained Sunday aboard the amphibious assault ship Peleliu, a foreign news report said.
Citing an internal US Navy memo, the Marine Corps Times said the Marine, whose identity has not yet been released, was arrested after the victim, 26-year-old Jeffrey Laude, was discovered lifeless in a room at the Celzone Lodge on Saturday.
Before the arrest, local authorities had suspected that the perpetrator was a foreigner.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has joined the local investigation as the unnamed Marine, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina remains in custody, along with three others from the same unit who are said to be potential witnesses to the crime.
The suspect's unit was in Pampanga for the ?Philippines-U.S. Amphibious Landing Exercise or PHIBLEX 15, an annual bilateral training event that concluded last week.
The US Department of State and its Philippine counterpart have yet to issue a statement on the incident.
UPDATE: US warships in Subic locked down for transgender slay probe