3rd missing passenger in Tarlac SUV plunge found dead in Pangasinan

TARLAC CITY — The body of the third missing passenger of the SUV that plunged from the Agana Bridge in Tarlac City was found in Bayambang, Pangasinan, on Saturday, Sept. 5, according to Tarlac City Mayor Susan Yap.

Yap said rescuers found the body of Shiela Mae Taborlupa, 25, a teacher, partly buried in mud and among banana trunks. She was wearing black shorts, matching the description of what she was wearing when the accident occurred.

Taborlupa was a cum laude graduate of the Technological University of the Philippines.

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Yap said she and city officials were on their way to Bayambang to claim the body.

Earlier Saturday, Yap held a briefing with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Air Force, Philippine National Police and other rescue teams to coordinate the search and rescue operation.

The teams used drones and a helicopter in the aerial search for the missing passengers.

Meanwhile, the family of Paul Harvey Collado, a nurse supervisor at Jecsons Medical Center and the owner of the SUV, continued to hope that he would be found alive.

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Collado’s family came from the United States and immediately traveled to Tarlac City after learning about the accident.

Yap provided the family with a place to stay in Tarlac City while they wait for updates and coordinate with rescue teams. INQ /mr