The Police have arrested a 35-year-old Singaporean man for his suspected involvement in the murder of a then-19-year-old woman, Teo Wei Ling Felicia (“Felicia”), who was reported missing in 2007.
On 3 July 2007, Felicia’s mother lodged a police report informing that her daughter had gone missing since 29 June 2007. Investigation officers conducted extensive investigations, but were unable to locate her then. Police investigations ascertained that she was last seen at a male friend’s residential unit at Marine Terrace. The Police interviewed the friend and the suspect who were believed to have last seen Felicia at the residential unit at that point of time. Both men maintained that Felicia had left the residential unit at Marine Terrace in the wee hours of 30 June 2007 on her own accord. The unit was searched and CCTV footage around the vicinity of the unit were reviewed but nothing incriminating was found. Given that the Police did not find any facts that linked the two men to Felicia’s disappearance, the case was classified as a missing person case and a Police gazette was issued to locate her. A property gazette was also issued for properties believed to be in Felicia’s possession when she was reported missing.
For missing person reports which remain unsolved, the Police regularly review these cases to check for new leads. During regular reviews of this case which were conducted earlier, interviews with Felicia’s family and other witnesses were conducted along with checks on activities involving Felicia’s possible movements, including her bank accounts, emails, social media accounts and travel records. However, no new leads were revealed. The most recent review was initiated in July 2020 and the case was referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) given that it had been unsolved for an extended period of time. This is part of a process where selected cases which have been outstanding for a protracted period of time are surfaced to CID for fresh review.
CID uncovered new leads into the case while tracing the properties which were believed to be in Felicia’s possession when she was reported missing. CID managed to link one of the properties to the 35-year-old suspect and arrested him on 15 December 2020 in relation to Felicia’s disappearance. Preliminary investigations revealed that Felicia had died before the report was lodged on 3 July 2007 and that the suspect had allegedly disposed of Felicia’s body subsequently with the male friend. The Police’s search for Felicia’s remains are ongoing.
The 35-year-old suspect will be charged in court on 17 December 2020 with murder. The offence of murder, punishable under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the death penalty. Police investigations are ongoing. The Police are currently trying to locate the male friend who is believed to be out of Singapore.
Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police How Kwang Hwee said “I would like to commend the investigators for their hard work and determination to solve the case. The investigators managed to uncover new leads to throw light on what might have happened to the victim, identify the suspect and arrested him.”
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
17 December 2020 @ 1:06 PM