The body of a woman was found on the side of Denpasar-Gilimanuk main road in Jembrana on Tuesday, police said, while her suspected killers are believed to have stolen the victim’s car to escape.
The woman, identified as Ni Gusti Mirah Lestari (42), was an employee at a bank. She was reported missing by her family members on Sunday evening. Mirah was last seen in her car, and at approximately 6:35pm that day, she messaged her child saying she was still in Jimbaran.
Her body was found two days later by a couple driving by the crime scene. The pair had stopped by the road to fix a flat tire on their motorcycle when they spotted the victim’s body, face down, in the sewers. They reported the discovery to the local police, who identified the corpse as Mirah.
“The victim has been revealed and identified by the family members,” Jembrana Police’s Crime Investigation Unit Head M Reza Pranata announced.
An examination revealed that Mirah sustained injuries all over her body, including her head and face, and that she had wounds that suggested she had been dragged. She was also found without her car, a Honda Brio, which police say was likely used as a getaway vehicle by the culprits.
In their attempt to locate the car by its license plate number, police found that the vehicle had crossed over to Java, according to ticketing officers at the Gilimanuk port.
“Whether the car has been sold or not, we are investigating its whereabouts. Hopefully there will be an answer to this case, but it isn’t guaranteed that the perpetrator had used the car,” Jembrana Police Chief I Dewa Gde Juliana explained yesterday.
Police also obtained CCTV footage from the port showing Mirah’s car at around 11pm on Sunday. Dewa Gde said police have identified one of the suspected killers in the car, but noted that there was more than one person inside the vehicle.
