A former beauty queen who went missing from her home has been found murdered - hogtied and weighed down with rocks in the sea.

Acquene Arradaza, 35, was seen on CCTV being abducted by three armed men in a black Toyota as she was buying groceries from a store in Ormoc City, the Philippines, on July 31.

Bizarrely, her family failed to report her disappearance to police, until her bloated corpse surfaced off the seaside village of Barangay 99 Diit on Monday, August 4.

Local fishermen called the police after finding the decomposing body drifting in the water, bound to two sacks meant to weigh her down. Acquene had a bicycle D lock around her neck and was gagged and blindfolded.

Police Major Shenna Layog, acting commander of the Tacloban City Police Station 2, said: 'The body was already in the bloated stage and it was naked. The tongue was already sticking out. It was also seen that the neck, hands and feet were tied. The face was covered with black cloth and even wrapped with duct tape.'

Relatives confirmed Acquene's identity through the tattoos on her back.

In a statement, the Police Regional Office 8 said: 'Police Regional Office 8 confirms that the unidentified cadaver recovered from the seawaters of Barangay 99-Diit, Tacloban City, on August 4, 2025, has been positively identified as the same woman earlier reported abducted in Ormoc City.

'The confirmation was made through continued coordination between the Tacloban City Police Office (TCPO) and Ormoc City Police Office (OCPO) following a reported abduction incident in the village of Valencia in Ormoc City on July 31, 2025.

'The victim was reportedly taken by three unidentified armed individuals who forced her into a black vehicle before fleeing in the direction of Kananga, Leyte.'

CCTV footage from the scene shows a black Toyota Wigo pulling over near the road shoulder before several individuals stormed out and forcibly bundled Acquene into the vehicle.

Ormoc City police spokesman Lieutenant Nova Tan said the alleged abduction was only reported by relatives on Monday, the same day the body was discovered.

The officer said: 'We could have intercepted the suspects' vehicle at the city or municipal borders if they filed a report earlier.'

Authorities said they were tracking down the suspects and investigating the motive for the 'premeditated attack'.

Acquene, a single mother-of-three, was the former winner of the Miss Matag-ob pageant in Matag-ob municipality.

Her brother, Eros Arradaza, 30, was killed in a gunfight with police during a drug bust in the same province last year.