A police officer checks the body of a 17-year-old girl found in a grassy area in Barangay Bunga in Toledo City on Friday, August 25, 2023. | photo via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 17 year-old girl was found dead and without clothes on her lower body in a grassy area in Barangay Bunga, Toledo City on early Friday morning, August 25, 2023.
Police Staff Sergeant Richard Oberez of the Toledo City Police Station, in his report, said that the teenage girl’s body was discovered at around 6:40 a.m.
Police personnel received the call about a dead person at around 7:00 a.m. in Purok 2, Barangay Bunga.
Oberez identified the victim they found as Sharmaine Flores, 17, a senior high school student.
The victim’s brother, Wesley Flores, said in a radio interview that his sister left their house at around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 24, to buy load for her mobile phone. However, the girl did not return to their house after this.
The family was not alarmed at first that she did not come home because they assumed that she was staying at the convent with the nuns who she worked for as a working student, said the brother.
“Abi man namo naa siya sa madre. Kay og dili na siya mouli, adto na siya magtulganan sa madre. Abi man namo’g didto siya natulog maong wa namo pangitaa,” he said.
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(We thought she was with the nuns. Because usually if she doesn’t return home, she stays with the nuns. We thought she slept there that’s why we didn’t look for her.)
He added that a neighbor informed them on early Friday morning that his sister was dead and so they immediately went to the area where the body was found.
Upon their arrival, they saw their loved one lying lifeless on the grass without undergarments on her lower body.
Toledo City is approximately 46 kilometers west of Cebu City.
This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.
/bmjo
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