Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, a province known for its agriculture, became the setting for a gruesome discovery that shocked the nation. A local farmer, heading to his fields, noticed a bucket discarded in a canal. Curious, he approached, hoping it might be useful. Instead, he recoiled in horror: inside lay the severed head of a woman. Nearby, he found a sack containing documents—a passport, birth certificate—that identified the victim as Maribel Alpas.

Maribel, born in 1983 in Negros Occidental, was described by her family as hardworking and devoted, especially to her nieces and nephews. Her primary dream was to provide a better life for her parents. To achieve this, she chose the path of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). In 2011, she left for the United Kingdom, finding employment in Warrington.

She worked diligently, sending most of her earnings back home. After two years, she returned to the Philippines for a family visit. In March 2014, she was scheduled to fly back to the UK, but she never made the flight. Instead, the horrifying news reached her family: her severed head had been found miles away in Nueva Ecija.

Investigators were initially puzzled. Why was a woman from Negros Occidental found deceased in Nueva Ecija? The documents found near the bucket provided the link. A contract showed Maribel worked as a domestic helper for Dennis and Girly Samson, a couple originally from Nueva Ecija who were living and working in the UK.

The Samsons, a nursing assistant and a staff nurse respectively, had hired Maribel in 2011 to help care for their two children while they worked. Reports suggest Maribel was treated well, considered almost like family, though her sister mentioned Maribel found the salary a bit low but planned to endure it to eventually apply for British residency.

In November 2013, the Samsons traveled to the Philippines with their children and Maribel for the holidays. Afterward, the Samsons returned to the UK, but Maribel requested to extend her vacation to spend more time with her family. She was scheduled to return to the UK on March 21, 2014, with a new two-year contract offered by the Samsons.

Crucially, before her flight, Dennis Samson reportedly asked Maribel to travel to their house in Barangay Lourdes, Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, to retrieve an important document he wanted her to bring back to the UK. The nature of this document remains unclear. Maribel agreed. Her sister, Joselyn, confirmed this plan, stating she kept in constant text contact with Maribel during her journey.

Maribel documented her itinerary, noting her expected arrival at a gas station on the Maharlika Highway in Santa Rosa around 10:10 p.m. on March 20. Police obtained CCTV footage from that gas station, confirming Maribel arrived safely. Moments later, a white Isuzu Carry truck pulled up, and a man got out. Maribel appeared relaxed and willingly got into the truck with him. The footage was too blurry to identify the driver clearly.

Joselyn reported that Maribel stopped replying to her texts after confirming her arrival at the gas station. Her severed head was discovered the next morning. Investigators learned from a farmer near the canal that a white truck had sped past the area shortly before the head was found. Another crucial lead came from the subdivision where the Samsons’ house was located.

A neighbor reported seeing a large fire and smoke emanating from the Samson property in the early hours of March 21. The subdivision’s security guard recalled the Officer-in-Charge mentioning that Reginald Samson (Dennis’s brother) had borrowed a white Isuzu Carry truck belonging to Elcelo Valdez (Dennis’s brother-in-law) on the night of March 20, claiming he needed it to take a relative to the hospital.

Armed with this information and witness statements, Cabiao police secured a search warrant for the Samson property. Although the house appeared empty, with Valdez nowhere to be found, police, following protocol, obtained permission from a Samson relative to proceed.

The search yielded horrifying evidence. In the yard, investigators found a burn site containing small human bone fragments. Nearby, inside a septic tank, they discovered larger charred bones and documents belonging to Maribel Alpas. The evidence strongly suggested Maribel’s body had been dismembered and burned on the property, with remains scattered between the burn site and the septic tank.

Additional bone fragments, suspected to be Maribel’s, were later found at Reginald Samson’s own residence. Confronted with the evidence, Dennis Samson’s sister reportedly called Reginald a liar, stating no relative had been taken to the hospital that night. The investigation now pointed squarely at Reginald Samson and Elcelo Valdez.

Authorities in the Philippines contacted Warrington Police in the UK to question Dennis and Girly Samson. Both were suspended from their hospital jobs pending the investigation.

They vehemently denied any involvement, expressing shock and sadness, stating they treated Maribel like family and had been out of the Philippines for months. Dennis confirmed asking Maribel to retrieve a document but offered no further details. UK investigators found no evidence linking them directly to the crime.

Based on the evidence found at the Samson property, CCTV footage placing Valdez at the gas station meeting Maribel, and witness accounts of the fire and the borrowed truck, the prosecutor filed murder charges against Elcelo Valdez, Reginald Samson, and an unidentified John Doe (possibly the truck driver).

The local mayor offered a theory suggesting Girly Samson was jealous of alleged special attention Dennis gave Maribel, potentially leading her to orchestrate the slaying—though this remains pure speculation.

Authorities also found illegal substances at the Samson house, leading to theories the perpetrators may have been under the influence, given the extreme brutality of the crime. Neighbors reportedly knew Reginald Samson as a local drug dealer.

Despite the charges and mounting evidence, securing justice proved difficult. Valdez and Samson failed to appear for their arraignment. Their lawyer requested extensions but, after several hearings and the issuance of arrest warrants in March 2015, both suspects vanished. They remain fugitives to this day.

The unidentified John Doe has never been identified. With the primary suspects on the run and the UK-based employers cleared by local police, the investigation hit a dead end. Maribel Alpas’s family created a Facebook page, pleading for information and sharing photos of Valdez and Samson, hoping someone might recognize them.

Years later, these men remain free, while Maribel’s family continues to grieve, denied closure and justice for her brutal, unsolved slaying. The true reason why Maribel Alpas lost her life remains an agonizing question mark.