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SINGAPORE – A man will be charged on Thursday (December 17) with the murder of an arts student more than 13 years after her disappearance.
The 35-year-old man is believed to have worked together with another man to dispose of the body of Ms. Felicia Teo Wei Ling, who was 19 years old when she disappeared after attending a meeting at Marine Terrace.
The man was arrested Tuesday.
Police said in a statement Thursday that they are looking for the other man, 32, who they believe is not in Singapore.
They are also looking for the remains of Mrs. Teo.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that Felicia had died before the report was submitted on July 3, 2007,” police said, referring to the missing persons report submitted by Ms. Teo’s mother.
Ms 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 Housing Board block on Marine Terrace in June 2007 .
However, in interviews with the police at the time, both men had claimed that Ms. Teo left the apartment of her 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 for the unit and closed-circuit television footage around the unit, but were unable to locate it.
The case was classified as a missing person 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. During the periodic reviews, interviews were conducted with Ms. Teo’s family and other witnesses. Police also checked Ms 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 is unresolved 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 leads while tracking property believed to be in Ms. Teo’s possession when she was reported missing, police said. Media reports later said that Ms 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, Senior Deputy Police Commissioner How Kwang Hwee, said: “I would like to congratulate the investigators for their hard work and determination in solving the case. The investigators managed to uncover new clues to shed light on what might have happened to the victim, identified the suspect and arrested him. “
Ms. 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 Ms. Teo to strangers and asking if they had seen her.
If charged and found guilty of murder, the man will face the death penalty.
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