By Joseph Jubelag
BANGA, SOUTH COTABATO - Police authorities are still stumped by the killing of a 16-year-old female student who was found dead Wednesday in an irrigation canal in Barangay Punong Grande two days after she was reported missing by relatives.
Police Executive Master (PEM) Sergeant Ronald Jamero, in a report to South Cotabato police director Police Col. Jemuel Siason, identified the victim as Barbie Inocencio, a grade 10 student of Notre Dame of Banga.
The victim’s mother, Babyn April Inocencio, said they raised an alert on the victim’s whereabouts after she did not come home after attending class last Dec. 2.
Police said the victim, whose hands were tied and body wrapped in a sack, was found dead by residents in an irrigation canal in a village on the outskirts of Banga.
Jamero said investigators had already asked the Philippine National Police-Scene of the Crime Operatives to conduct an autopsy on the victim’s remains to determine the cause of death since an initial investigation showed no injuries and wounds on her body.