INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte — Police here are looking into a possible suspect behind the murder of a nine-year-old girl whose body was found in a grassy area behind a school on Thursday night, four days after she had gone missing.
Lt. Col. Edgardo Bernardo, acting Tagum City police station chief, said village officials reported the discovery of the rotting remains of Monalisa Pagharion at around 7:45 p.m. in a secluded grassy area at Purok Durian, Barangay Apokon.
Bernardo said passersby reported a foul smell coming from a grassy portion near a road, prompting village officials to check, which led to the discovery of the Grade 1 pupil’s decomposing body.
The victim’s father, Arnel, had sought the help of police and local officials after his daughter failed to return home after taking her 6-year-old sister to a kindergarten school in Apokon village past 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
Arnel told local media he had been letting Monalisa take her younger sister to school as their house was just behind the school.
That day, he expected Monalisa to return promptly and join him for breakfast.
The girl never came back.
Bernardo said the victim was positively identified by her father based on the wristwatch, pair of slippers, and the clothes she wore on the day she went missing.
The city police chief said an autopsy is set on Monday to determine the circumstances behind the victim’s death.
“We’re looking into a possible suspect. An investigation is now underway,” Bernardo told the Inquirer by phone.