By CESAR JOLITO III

Police are conducting an extensive search for a 42-year-old businesswoman from Negros Occidental’s Victorias City whose abandoned car was discovered with traces of blood in a sugarcane plantation in Hinigaran town’s Barangay Gargato.

Authorities identified the missing woman as Joy Dignadice, a beauty products dealer and registered nurse, based on Professional Regulation Commission records.

Dignadice was a resident of Canetown Subdivision in Barangay 19-A, Victorias City.

According to police investigation, Dignadice was last seen leaving her home around 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, and has not returned since.

Her family reported that her mobile phone had been unreachable.

The following day, at around 3:58 p.m. on Thursday, October 30, a concerned citizen reported the presence of a gray sedan parked irregularly beside a sugarcane field in Barangay Gargato, prompting Hinigaran police to respond.

Upon inspection, police found that the vehicle’s driver-side windshield was shattered, and there were visible bloodstains on both the driver and passenger seats.

The car was facing east when discovered.

The Scene of the Crime Operatives have since processed the area to collect forensic evidence in an effort to determine what transpired prior to the vehicle being abandoned.

Police are also reviewing closed-circuit television footage from nearby areas and along possible routes taken by Dignadice’s vehicle to trace her last known movements.

Authorities said follow-up investigations are ongoing to locate Dignadice and establish the circumstances behind her disappearance./CJ, WDJ