A U.S. Marine has been accused of killing of a transgender person in the Philippines, according to reports.<\/p>\n
The suspect, who was deployed the island country for a training exercise, apparently did not know the victim was transgender when they met a disco bar about 10:55 p.m. Saturday and left together, local newspapers reported.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Laude, 26, checked into the Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City at 11:30 p.m. accompanied by a “male, white foreigner” with a marine-style haircut, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.<\/p>\n
Elias Gallamos, a hotel worker, says he saw the white male leave the hotel alone minutes after he and the victim entered the room.<\/p>\n
The victim’s friend, 22-year-old Mark Clarence Gelviro, says he was asked to accompany them to the hotel but then Laude told him to leave “before the foreigner could discover that they were transgenders,” according to the broadsheet.<\/p>\n
About 11:45 p.m., Gallamos found the victim’s body slumped over in the toilet while checking the room, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The body showed signs of strangulation, police said.<\/p>\n
The marine was taken into custody by U.S. officials the following day and is being held aboard the Peleliu assault ship, the Marine Corps Times reported.<\/p>\n
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents and local Philippine police are investigating the incident.<\/p>\n