Foul play suspected in Philippines death

MANILA -- The last entry in Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell's Internet blog said she was "buhay pa," a Filipino phrase for "still alive."

The Jan. 13 posting, which detailed her experiences surviving a typhoon, explained that she had adopted the phrase soon after arriving in the Philippines two years ago, calling it the most familiar response when Filipinos are asked how they are doing.

Family and friends were hoping for a similar message from her after she disappeared April 8 while on a trip to see the famed mountainside rice terraces of Banaue, in a remote part of Ifugao province.

But yesterday, soldiers found Campbell's body buried in a shallow grave in a dry river bed in the area of the northern Philippines where she was hiking by herself. Police said they believed foul play was involved.

Campbell's family has said the daughter of a former US Marine captain was an "alert and careful traveler" who would not easily be duped by people with "malevolent intent."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States did not have any information on what happened to her.

"We're working very well with the Philippine authorities. They're taking this case quite seriously. And we are going to work with them until we are able to get to the bottom of this and get all of those answers for Julia's family," he said.

A former long-distance runner from Fairfax, Va., Campbell, 40, had worked as a freelance journalist for The New York Times, Fox.com, CourtTV.com, People magazine, and Star magazine.