Jack’s father, relatives recover cord at Obyan site

Family and relatives yesterday sifted the soil in the jungle area near Obyan Beach where the remains of Traina Suda Jack were found and recovered pieces of bones and an electric cord that bolsters their belief that Jack may have been strangled.

Sintosi Suda said they found the black electric cord, measuring about two and a half feet, after sifting the soil on the ground where the remains of his daughter were found.

Suda and his relatives showed Saipan Tribune the cord, which they noted has a “shape of strangling.”

Suda and his relatives pointed out that they are not certain about the cord—whether it was indeed used to kill Jack—but at the same time they will give it to the police, hoping it will help the investigation.

The family said police have theorized that Jack may probably have been strangled since Guam chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola’s autopsy did not reveal any type of identifiable trauma on the bones such as fracture, stab, or gunshot.

“This is a murder and not a suicide,” said Suda, who led the sifting of soil at the scene since Wednesday.

Suda and his relatives said they decided to examine the scene themselves after police informed them that other pieces of bones were missing.

When they started sifting the soil on Wednesday, they immediately found bones they believe are part of a spine and an arm. The family turned over the bones to police that day.

When Saipan Tribune left the scene yesterday afternoon, the family recovered what they believe was a fingernail, a toe bone, hair, and other bones.

Suda and his children said they are also looking for Jack’s shoes that she was wearing when she was last seen on Oct. 22, 2014. They described the shoes as a Nike high top, colored pink, black, white, and green.

Suda said they will continue today, Friday, hoping to find his daughter’s shoes and other things that may help police solve the case.

Department of Public Safety commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero on Wednesday said they are not classifying the death of 18-year-old Jack as a homicide until the forensic microscopic analysis tell investigators otherwise.

Dr. Espinola positively identified the remains as that of Jack’s, using a photograph that showed her dental features.

A cattle manager saw the remains in the jungle about 15 feet from the shoulder of the road across the Torres farm near Obyan Beach last May 11.