Philippines verifying if headless body is adventurer

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine military officials said Saturday the headless body of a man and a boat have been found and authorities were verifying if he could be a Chinese adventurer who went missing while rowing across the Pacific Ocean last year.

Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the head of the man found in the southernmost province of Tawi Tawi may have been severed by strong waves as the body drifted.

Ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf militants have taken hostages in the region in the past and decapitated some of them, but in the case of the remains found in Tawi Tawi, Sobejana told The Associated Press there was no sign of beheading.

Military officials in a report said the body clad in a dive suit was found April 24 by a villager.