American woman found murdered in box floating in river

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – DECEMBER 23, 2018 23-year-old American Tomi Michelle Masters was murdered, and her body was later found inside a cardboard box floating in the Pasig River in Manila, Philippines. The case occurred while the young woman was traveling from California to the Philippines with her boyfriend, Troy Woody Jr. (21).

According to investigators, Tomi was murdered inside an apartment at the Avida Towers residential complex in the city of Mandaluyong. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation. Her body was naked, wrapped in a black garbage bag, sealed with adhesive tape, and placed inside a cardboard box.

Troy Woody Jr. and his 22-year-old friend and roommate, Mir Sirajul Islam, were suspected of the murder. Security cameras captured both men loading a heavy box into a vehicle booked through the Grab ride-hailing service. They subsequently drove it to the Pasig River and threw it into the water.

However, the men’s suspicious behavior did not go unnoticed by the driver, who contacted the police after completing the trip. Thanks to his report, investigators recovered the body and arrested both men later that same day.

Both subsequently admitted to being involved in disposing of the body, but accused each other of committing the actual murder. In February 2019, both pleaded not guilty before a court in Mandaluyong City. The case was also linked to cryptocurrency and the suspects’ alleged fraudulent activities, although their actual motive for the murder was never conclusively established.

MORE PHOTOS OF TOMI:

READ MORE:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/bitcoin-trader-murder-woman-in-the-philippines/168786/
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1065923/american-woman-killed-body-dumped-in-river
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-trader-arrested-philippines-murdering-184313291.html