CEBU CITY – A 17-year-old girl was raped and killed in Barangay Bunga, Toledo City, Cebu.
The Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO-7) has ordered the immediate arrest of the killer of Sharmaine Flores, whose body was found in a grassy area past 6 a.m. on Friday, August 25.
SHARMAINE Flores (FB)
“This is a very tragic incident and we don’t want this kind of a crime to be normalized in Central Visayas. Rest assured, the full force of the PRO-7 will be utilized to immediately solve this case,” said Police Lt. Col. Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of PRO-7 chief Police Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin.
The victim, a senior high student, was an only daughter.
The victim’s mother, Anna Marie, told police that her daughter left home past 6 p.m. on Thursday, August 24, to go to a store to buy cellphone load for a friend. She failed to return home.
The next morning, Sharmaine was found dead and naked from the waist down.
Police Lt. Col. Manolo Salvatierra, chief of the Toledo City Police Station, said the victim had scratches in the body, an indication that she tried to fight off her assailant. The victim also had huge bite marks on her cheeks.
Police have invited a man considered as a person of interest. “To those who may have information that could help us solve the case, we are encouraging them to come to our office so we could give justice to the death of the victim,” said Salvatierra.