Sabah police await confirmation on headless corpse

Sabah police are checking with the authorities in the Philippines to confirm if the headless corpse found in southern Philippines was that of Malaysian Bernard Then Ted Fen, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman.

"We are checking.. waiting for confirmation," said Jalaluddin in his short answer via Whatsapp here tonight when asked to comment on media reports today about the discovery of the headless body by the Philippines' authorities.

Media in the Philippines reported that a headless corpse was found in Sitio Lungon-lungon at Parang in Jolo island at about 11pm on Monday by soldiers from the Philippines 501st Infantry Brigade.

Previously, Bernard Then, 39, was reported to have been beheaded by Abu Sayyaf terrorists on Nov 11 around 4 pm and a head believed to be that of Bernard Then was found but it has not been confirmed until today.

Bernard Then was abducted from the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on the night of May 14 together with the restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, but Thien Nyuk Fun was released by the kidnappers on Nov 8 and is back with her family.