Thirteen years after the disappearance of a 19-year-old art student gripped the nation, police arrested a suspect in her death Tuesday after the case received fresh attention.
The police today charged 35-year-old Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa’ee with the murder of Felicia Teo, who was reported missing in 2007. The search for her body and Ragil Putra Setia Sukmarahjana, a 32-year-old accomplice who is suspected of helping dispose of it, is ongoing.
The former Lasalle College of the Arts student, who would have been 32 this year, was last seen via surveillance footage entering the lift of a block at Marine Terrace with the two men, believed to be her friends, on June 29 of that year.
In interviews with the police, the two men claimed that Teo left of her own accord at around 2am. A subsequent search of the apartment, surveillance footage, Teo’s bank accounts, emails and social media platforms failed to find any evidence linking the two men to her disappearance.
Investigators believe she died prior to her mother reporting her missing four days later.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that Felicia had died before the report was lodged on July 3, 2007,” the police said in a statement.
Teo’s case was then referred to the Criminal Investigation Department, or CID, after being reviewed in July this year, a process done regularly for unsolved cases to find further leads.
The CID found new links to Ahmad while tracking down belongings with Teo when she went missing, including a mobile phone and laptop. At least one item was linked to Ahmad, leading to his arrest. He will return to court next week.
Teo’s disappearance gained nationwide attention in 2007, with more than 200 of her family members and friends distributing fliers and conducting extensive searches.
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