Police identifies suspect in death of girl in Toledo City lodging house

Police are now hunting the man accused of killing an 18-year-old girl who was last seen checking into a lodging house in Sitio Sta. Ana, Brgy. Poblacion in Toledo City with him on Thursday, September 19. | Contributed photo via Futch Anthony Inso

CEBU CITY, Philippines – CCTV recordings from an establishment in Toledo City captured the moment when a Grade 12 student and a man entered a lodging house in Sitio Sta. Ana in Brgy. Poblacion.

The two reportedly checked into the lodging house at around 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 19.

But they did not check out as scheduled the next day.

READ: 17 year-old girl found half naked, dead in Toledo City, Cebu

When the lodging house’s room boy, knocked on the door of their room, no one answered, which prompted him to open the room.

The room boy found the body of the 18-year-old girl on the bed.  But her male companion was no longer around.

On Saturday, police in Toledo City identified the girl’s companion as Lorben Larot, a 43-year-old native of Misamis Oriental.

READ: Toledo police chief: We are convinced we got the suspect in killing of 17-year-old girl

Suspect identified

In a post on their social media page, Police Lieutenant Colonel Manolo Salvatierra, the chief of the Toledo City Police Station,  said that they have identified the suspect through a report from a concerned citizen.

Salvatierra said that when the CCTV footage of the two entering the lodging house rounds online, a citizen reported knowing the man on the video and his whereabouts.

READ: Mother of 17-year-old girl, who was found dead in Toledo City, cries for justice

Police also found a CCTV footage from another civilian that clearly showed the suspect’s face.

At around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 21, police went to a residential area near Pier 1 in Cebu City, where the suspect was reported to be staying.  But he was no longer there when the police arrived.

However, Salvatierra said they were able to talk to Larot’s common-law partner, whom they invited to the police station as part of their ongoing investigation.

Region-wide manhunt

In addition, Salvatierra said that employees at the lodging house also positively identified Larot as the dead girl’s companion.

Police are conducting a region-wide manhunt against the suspect as of this writing.

Law enforcers are also waiting for the result of the medico legal examination on the victim to determine if she was raped by the suspect.

In addition, they are coordinating with police in Misamis Oriental to check if Larot had a criminal record in his hometown.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, said that the suspect had the intention to kill the victim.

“As far as we are concerned, gibuhat sa suspect ang krimen knowing fully well the consequences of his action ug iya gyud intention ang pagpatay sa biktima. Kinahanglan manubag sya niini ug buhaton sa PRO 7 ang tanan para mahatagaan ug hustisya ang biktima,” Pelare said.