Dubai Filipina Lorna's Murder: It was planned, says her daughter

Published Saturday, September 08, 2012

By Sneha May Francis

Nearly a week after Dubai Filipina businesswoman Lorna Lim Varona was found dead and abandoned in her Jaguar in Sharjah’s industrial area, her youngest daughter Liza retraces the events that lead to the murder.

The accused also a Filipino in his 50s was known to the family, has been arrested and is under interrogation.

He had reportedly borrowed Dh250,000 from Lorna, and had scheduled the meeting on August 26, the day she went missing, to return the money and collect his passport, which was under her possession.

“This wasn’t the first time he was scheduled to meet her. He had cancelled the first two meetings. So, maybe he was planning to do it.”

The morning of that fateful day, Liza had spoken to her mom, mostly about work. “I didn’t even ask her where she was going,” she regretted.

When Lorna didn’t return home or answer her phone, the family approached the Rashidiya station the next day.

“We informed the officers about every detail we knew, but we never expected her close friend to do this.”

The family waited for the investigation to continue, until they read a newspaper report about an abandoned Jaguar in Sharjah. “As soon as my father read the report, he wanted to cross-check, so we went to the police station.”

Liza, her older sister and father waited for the police to complete their initial investigation. “They asked us if we suspected anyone, and we informed them about this man.”

The family provided the investigators with a picture of the man from his facebook page, and his residence address.

Soon, the cops tracked the man to his Deira house, and found him with possession of his passport. “The passport was the give-away. He had to have taken it from my mother. It was always with her. She carried it because she was prepared to meet him any time.”

The accused, who lives in Deira with his second wife and son, finally admitted to the crime.

Lorna, who had gone missing on August 26, was found murdered in her abandoned Jaguar nearly a week later in Sharjah’s industrial area.

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