MANILA, Philippines – Over a decade after her husband murdered her, the body of Karen Santillan Tait comes home to the Philippines from the United States – in ashes.

The Philippine Embassy in the United States on Thursday, October 24, said it expects the cremated remains of Tait, mother of one, to arrive in Manila this week.

Her ashes’ arrival ends 11 years of anguish for her family in Legazpi City in Albay.

Tait died in 2002, when she was 23 years old, but her family knew nothing about her death until 2012, according to the Waynesboro Police Foundation, which helped return her remains to the Philippines.

The long wait began after a hiker “discovered the badly decomposed body of a female” in West Virginia on Sept 26, 2002.

“An examination of the body determined it to be that of a young, small-framed female of Asian descent. Further, it was determined the victim had met with foul play that had likely occurred about a month prior to her discovery. She would remain unidentified and listed as a ‘Jane Doe’ in a West Virginia morgue for over a decade while West Virginia State Police worked the cold case,” the Waynesboro Police Foundation said.

While the body remained unidentified for 10 years, Tait was reported missing.

‘Evasive, hostile’ husband

Then, in 2011, her husband got in trouble. Thomas Tait “fell under suspicion for child sexual assault and possession of child pornography.”

The detective assigned to the sex abuse case, Alyssa Campbell, asked about Thomas’ missing wife.

Tait had been living with Thomas in the US since July 2000, according to a statement from the Waynesboro Police Department. The two had been married since 1998, and had a child late 2000.

“According to Campbell, Thomas would become evasive and hostile when asked about his missing wife. He maintained she had abandoned him and their young daughter 10 years ago to return to the Philippines where her own parents and siblings still lived,” the Waynesboro Police Foundation said.

Then, Campbell looked closer.

Investigators compared a DNA sample from Tait’s relatives – her daughter in the US and a family member in the Philippines – with a sample from the unidentified female in the West Virginia morgue. The samples matched. It was around a year ago, October 2012.

Thomas became a suspect, then faced a murder charge in November 2012. On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Thomas pleaded guilty. The court sentenced him to suffer 30 years in prison.

With justice having served, the other hurdle for Tait’s family was the cost of flying her ashes home. 

To help solve this, in early October, the Waynesboro Police Foundation launched a fund drive to raise $6,000 to repatriate Tait’s remains. The foundation breached the target after an “overwhelming” response, said Police Chief Michael Wilhelm in an article on the group’s website.

In a statement, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr thanked Campbell and Prosecuting Attorney James Camblos III, among others, for helping give justice to Tait.

“We thank them and the good people of Waynesboro for going out of their way to make sure that Karen can finally rest in peace with her loved ones in the Philippines,” Cuisia said. – Rappler.com