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SINGAPORE (The Straits Times / ANN): A man was charged on Thursday (December 17) with the murder of an arts student more than 13 years after her disappearance.
Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa’ee, 35, appeared in a district court via video link and was charged with murdering Felicia Teo Wei Ling, 19, on June 30, 2007, between 1:00 p.m. 39 and 07:20 in a unit on the tenth floor of Block 19 Terraza Marina.
The bespectacled man, with long hair, ear piercings and handcuffs, had a blank expression when the charge was read to him.
According to court documents, Ahmad Danial allegedly worked together with another man, Ragil Putra Setia Sukmarahjana, 32, to commit the crime.
Police said in a statement on Thursday (December 17) that Ahmad Danial was arrested on Tuesday.
They are looking for Ragil Putra Setia, who they believe is not in Singapore.
They are also looking for Teo’s remains.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that Felicia had passed away before the report was submitted on July 3, 2007,” police said, referring to the missing persons report submitted by Teo’s mother.
Teo and the two men were believed to be friends, and the 19-year-old is believed to have been last seen entering an elevator with the duo on a Board of Housing block on Marine Terrace in June 2007.
However, in interviews with the police at the time, both men had claimed that Teo left the apartment of his own free will in the early morning of June 30 of that year, the police statement said.
Police said they conducted extensive investigations, including searching the unit and closed-circuit television footage around the unit, but found nothing incriminating.
The case was listed as a missing persons case, as the police did not find any facts linking the two men to their disappearance, the statement added.
Police said they regularly review unsolved missing persons cases for more clues. Interviews with Teo’s family and other witnesses were carried out during periodic reviews.
Police also checked Teo’s bank accounts, emails, and social media platforms for new fingerprints.
After a review in July of this year, the case was referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), “since the case has been unsolved for a prolonged period.”
The police added that this is part of a process in which selected cases that have been pending for an “extended period of time” are presented to the CID for review.
A breakthrough came after the CID uncovered new clues while tracking belongings believed to be in Teo’s possession when she was reported missing, police said. Media reports later said that Teo had her mobile phone and laptop with her, among other items, when she disappeared.
The CID had managed to link one of the properties to the 35-year-old suspect and he was arrested, police said.
CID Director, Chief Deputy Police Commissioner How Kwang Hwee, said: “I would like to congratulate the investigators for their hard work and determination in solving the case.
Investigators managed to uncover new clues to shed light on what may have happened to the victim, identify the suspect, and arrest him. “
Teo’s case had sparked a nationwide search in 2007 and attracted a lot of media attention.
More than 200 of her family and friends launched a frantic search for the then-Lasalle College of the Arts student, distributing thousands of flyers with her photograph.
They combed areas such as Geylang, Yishun and Woodlands, and even extended their search to Johor Baru, where they spent a day showing photos of Teo to strangers and asking if they had seen her.
Ahmad Danial is expected to return to court on December 24.
If you are charged and found guilty of murder, you face the death penalty. – The Straits Times / Asia News Network
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