Is the Chiong Sisters a Double No Body Murder Case?

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July 16, 1997, was the day when the presumed deceased Chiong sisters, Marijoy Jimenea Chiong and Jacqueline Jimenea Chiong, went missing. July 18, two days later, a body was found and some believe it was Marijoy. I for one believe that the body found in Tan-awan, Carcar, belonged to Marijoy, since nobody came forward to claim the body. I still think it was a reckless move to have the body cremated sometime after the documentary Give Up Tomorrow came out (read the review here). I refuse to believe what Enrique Uy, the father of the two suspects, James Andrew and James Anthony, said that the Chiong mother was able to talk to her daughter on the phone. If that was a daughter then did the other children go to Canada? Take note that before the crime happened, the youngest, Debbie Jane Chiong-Sia, was an elementary school student in Philippine Christian Gospel School (PCGS).

I, at first, believed what Enrique said. When I told someone about it, she just said, "That's preposterous." I said, "There was no body found." "So? Some people die in a crime and their bodies are never recovered." Then I remembered the case of the late cult leader Adolfo Constanzo. I remember the documentary mentioned some people went missing and later, the sacrificial places of the Matamoros Cult (run by Constanzo) were full of what was suspected. Human body parts are there left and right. One of the victims, later identified as Mark Kilroy, his brain was found in that cauldron. Many people went missing in Mexico. I even remembered the Elsa Castillo Story where a woman was chopped up before her body was disposed of.

From BuzzFeed News, I ended up finding about seven murder cases where the body was never found. This would probably explain a lot of stuff. These cases happened before Jacqueline's body, which was never recovered, would join the list:

Helle Crafts: The famous wood chipper killing of Helle Crafts by her husband, Richard, was the first murder conviction without a victim’s body in Connecticut state history. Evidence showed that before Helle disappeared on Nov. 18, 1986, Richard bought a freezer and a chainsaw and rented a wood chipper and a truck; authorities believe he froze his wife’s body, sawed it into pieces, and ran the remains through the wood chipper. Among piles of wood chips in various locations, police found pieces of bone and tissue, a fingernail, an envelope with Helle’s name, and crowns of her teeth. The Crafts case was the subject of the very first episode of Forensic Files in 1996 and inspired a famous scene in Fargo, filmmaker Ethan Coen confirmed to HuffPost. 

Evelyn Throsby Scott: Leonard Ewing Scott was the first person in the US convicted of a “no body” murder. His wife, Evelyn, was last seen at their Bel-Air, California, home in 1955. Only her dentures and glasses were found, near the backyard incinerator where a neighbor had seen Leonard stoking a fire after her disappearance. The smell from that fire was so odious that neighbors called the police to complain about it, but it wasn’t until questions were raised about Leonard spending his wife’s money that police began investigating her disappearance. He was convicted in 1957; decades later, after he was freed, he made a dubious confession — but her body was never found. 

Another quote worth saying from BuzzFeed is this:

As a judge in 1977 pointed out, just because a body is never found doesn’t mean a crime didn’t take place. 

What if the body in Tan-awan, Carcar, wasn't Marijoy? Would that prove Marijoy is still alive?

Forensic experts went to court to prove the body wasn't Marijoy. I think Miguel Syjuco made a slip of the tongue and was supposed to say, "We wanted to make sure that the body was Marijoy." My defense as a non-expert is simply rooted in the fact that nobody came to claim the body, even when the remains were later cremated. It's sad really because the body could've proven the innocence of Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga. The body's fingerprints matched that of Marijoy's voter's ID. 

Let's just assume that the body was not Marijoy's. If so, I could suspect that the real murderers may have killed a random woman, dressed her up in the same outfit as Marijoy, and thrown it into Carcar as a decoy. It could be some random victim of a rape and someone out there's missing a daughter. The whole case would be shaky if the body wasn't Marijoy because the wrong people were caught. That means the Chiong family took the wrong body. 

Whoever did the crime must've done a spotless job. If the body in Carcar wasn't Marijoy then the bodies were disposed of in such a way. I did watch a fictional crime drama where it's mentioned bodies can be dissolved. In the example I just shared, the bodies may have been either burned or chipped to pieces. Some have even cut them up and destroyed the evidence in many locations. It's possible that both bodies, if ever the body wasn't Marijoy, may have suffered that same fate. Maybe, they're in the bottom of the ocean and have been decomposed by now. 

No, the girls below are not the same people above.

Besides, the "evidence" of "Marijoy" and "Jacqueline" being alive is moot. A closer look will make one realize that Jacqueline and Debbie have different chin structures. Also, Amelie Arquilliano-Chiong is the wife of their brother Bruce Jimenea Chiong. It's a good thing that certain people who knew Amelie are rightfully defending her. A closer analysis (again) would reveal that Amelie may have resemblances to Marijoy but she's not Marijoy. There are many doppelgangers left and right. 

For example, the late Jesse Robredo has a lookalike named Elmer Uy. There was even a young man who could easily be mistaken as a missing son of Atty. Maria Leonor Robredo. Amelie may look like Marijoy but she was a student in St. Theresa's College (STC) for a very long time. A simple trip to STC will disprove the whole claim. I could say, "Are you sure she's Marijoy? Why not ask the STC staff for the existence of Amelie?" The same can go for a simple trip to PCGS will prove that Debbie was a student there for some time and she's not Jacqueline. 

Also, if they're really in Canada, where are the records of the Bureau of Immigration? Their names are so common that it may be another person with the name same and surname. The middle initial of that Jacqueline Chiong may be entirely different. However, I doubt that even Canada has a record of them entering the country. The record of their older brother Bruce and their sister-in-law would be there. That's why I refuse to believe in the rumor that one or both are in Canada. 

It still continues to be a mystery. If DNA testing had been done years ago, maybe one could eventually conclude that the bodies were disposed of. Sadly, DNA testing was looked down on even if it's been proven to be a lifesaver. Do you think Hubert Jeffry Webb would've requested a DNA test if he really raped the late Carmela Vizconde? I don't think so since Hubert knew he was innocent. Judge Amelita G. Tolentino turned it down which is a very bad move. 

I still believe that the body was Marijoy's. It's probably that Jacqueline's body was so properly disposed of. Maybe, the account that Jacqueline was seen running away from an unidentified vehicle with loud music may provide a clue. Maybe, Jacqueline made it that far before the real murderers ended her life and disposed of the body more effectively. For Marijoy, it seemed that it was a hurriedly dug grave so it was easier to find. One body was unsuccessfully gotten rid of while the other was. But if the body wasn't Marijoy then both bodies were successfully gotten rid of.