Camille April Manaclay was a 22-year-old single mother who carried the weight of her family on her shoulders. Working as a Guest Relations Officer at a club in Calamba, Laguna, she was the sole provider for her young child, her parents, and her siblings. Described as charismatic and diligent, she took on the challenging nightlife job out of necessity. Her family, while grateful, worried constantly about the dangers she faced. On April 1, 2011, their worst fears became a reality.

When Camille didn’t return home from her shift on the night of March 31, her family’s concern grew into panic. It was unlike her not to update them on her whereabouts. After 24 hours with no word, they reported her missing. At the same time, police received a call about a grim discovery. A jeepney dispatcher, seeking a private spot under a bridge in Barangay Mayapa, had stumbled upon human remains.

The scene was so profoundly disturbing that it left even veteran police officers in shock. The victim’s body had been subjected to extreme violence, and the state in which she was found was horrific. It took a week for the Manaclay family, in their desperate search for Camille, to connect with the authorities about the unidentified woman. At the morgue, their hopes were shattered when they confirmed the remains were hers.

The investigation began with very few leads. The family could only offer a vague story Camille had told about a mysterious new customer who had been following her. A more concrete lead came from a witness named Bernie, who told police he saw Camille getting into a taxi with a foreign man, possibly Korean, on the night she disappeared. He remembered the man’s face clearly because of his aggressive demeanor. However, without a name, the trail was cold. With no other witnesses or evidence, the quest for justice for Camille came to a standstill.

For two long and agonizing years, the Manaclay family waited for a breakthrough that never seemed to come. The case grew colder with each passing day. Then, in February 2013, the answer they had been waiting for appeared in the most unexpected way.

A Korean national named Kim Beom-jook was arrested in Manila for a violent assault on another Filipina named “Ashley.” The arrest was featured on a television news report. Bernie, the witness from two years prior, happened to be watching. He immediately recognized Kim as the same man he had seen with Camille on her final night.

The connection became undeniable after Ashley shared her terrifying story with police. She stated that while with Kim, he confessed to her that he had taken someone’s life before. When she tried to leave his condominium, he viciously attacked her with a baseball bat and, in a chilling display, showed her the blades he claimed to have used in the previous incident.

Miraculously, Ashley escaped and reported him to the authorities. Her testimony, which pointed to his violent past, and Bernie’s positive identification provided the crucial link investigators had been missing for two years.

Following the revelations, then-Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered that charges be filed against Kim Beom-jook for his alleged role in the tragic passing of Camille Manaclay. After two years of silence and uncertainty, a flicker of hope was finally reignited for a grieving family, all because a brave survivor spoke up and a watchful witness was paying attention.