CEBU CITY, Philippines — A boy, 16, who was reported missing since August 17, Saturday, did not make it home alive.
On Sunday morning, residents of Barangay Opao in Mandaue City reported that a dead male person was floating off the Cabahug Shipyard in the coastal village.
Police Corporal Jenus Capangpangan of Mandaue City Police Station 5 or Opao Police Station said family members of the missing boy positively identified the body to be that of their young family member.
The dead person found was wearing a black T-shirt, jogging pants and a white pair of rubber shoes, which were the same clothes that the missing boy was last seen wearing, said Capangpangan.
“Reported ni siya nga missing ato pang Sabado (He was reported missing since Saturday),” Capangpangan said.
The boy, whose family is from Barangay Ibabao-Estancia in Mandaue City, was a junior high school student in a private school in the city, the police added.
CDN Digital opted to withhold the name of the boy and his family due to the sensitivity of the case.
According to the police, the boy’s body did not have any signs of struggle or foul play and suspected that the boy died from an apparent suicide because of personal problems.
“The family is also not suspecting any foul play involved. They are convinced that the boy had a big problem,” Capangpangan told CDN Digital in Cebuano.
Capangpangan said they suspected that the boy jumped off the Marcelo Fernan Bridge within the time that he was reported missing and was carried by the water current to the nearby shipyard.
The boy’s body has been pulled out from the shipyard at around 12:20 p.m.
Despite the results of the initial investigation showing that the boy allegedly died from an apparent suicide, Capangpangan said they would still conduct a thorough investigation to make sure that there was no foul play in the boy’s death.
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For those facing huge personal problems or experiencing extreme sadness can reach out to and call Tawag Paglaum Centro Bisaya if they need someone to talk to.
Tawag Paglaum Centro Bisaya is a 24/7 call-based hotline for suicide prevention and emotional crisis intervention established in Cebu. Anyone in Central Visayas experiencing a mental disorder relapse or suicidal thoughts may reach the hotline at 0939-936-5433 or 0927-654-1629. /dbs