LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—The gruesome crime that took the life of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan did not happen in the vacant lot where her half-naked body was found on Monday morning, March 11, 2019.
Police Colonel Limuel Obon, director of the Lapu-lapu City Police Office (LLCPO), said the autopsy report on Silawan’s body revealed that the teen was killed sometime between 10 p.m. on Sunday to 2 a.m. on Monday.
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“Isa pang makatabang sa among investigation based on the post mortem lividity noted on the cadaver and the rigor mortis that have set in, it is safe to say that the gruesome incident did not happen there at the vacant lot where she was found dead. Maybe she has been killed somewhere else,” Obon said, referring to the autopsy report from the Police Crime Laboratory.
Obon said the findings of the autopsy corroborate with the accounts of the residents living along the road going to the vacant lot, saying that they heard motorcycles pass by close to 2 a.m. followed by the barking of their dogs.
However, Obon said they could not be certain on the truth behind statements of some residents that they heard a woman shouting for help at around that same time.
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“Allegedly sa atong witnesses, they have heard motorcycles and dogs were barking past 1 a.m. near 2 a.m. Nagkakaduol ang oras. Yung safe [estimate] na sinasabi nila, she was dead between 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. But [on the claims of a woman shouting for help], we do not know but people can be deceived unless makita talaga nimo with the use of your senses, the autopsy as an evidence is scientific. It will tell the truth,” Obon said.
Obon added that the blood found in the area might have not come from the stab wounds of the victim but from the lacerations from her face, which was skinned to the bone.
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Based on the same report, Obon said Silawan sustained at least 30 stab wounds to her body: one on the neck, 9 on her arms and 20 on her body.
Obon earlier said that the report noted no injuries in the teen’s private part, a possible indication that she wasn’t raped.
The police had already formed a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) for Silawan’s case while the Police Regional Advisory Council (RAC) has dangled a P100,000 cash reward for anyone who can provide vital information that will lead to finding the identity of the Silawan’s perpetrators. /bmjo