A 34-year-old farmer was arrested as a suspect in the killing of a girl whose body was found dumped in an abandoned well in barangay Tigbawan, Tabuelan town, Cebu.
Elmer Montecalvo, 34, was arrested in his home yesterday afternoon, He is a relative of the 13-year-old victim Jelina Lahoylahoy.
Montecalvo denied involvement in the killing.
Insp. Roberto Hugo, chief of the Tabuelan police, said there was circumstantial evidence to arrest Montecalvo.
Hugo said a slipper owned by Montecalvo was found near the dried up well where the girl was found dead last Friday morning.
A nylon rope was also found near the farmer’s house.
Police said there are three witnesses who saw the farmer acting suspiciously while walking home last Thursday night with only one slipper on.
Hugo said that according to the farmer’s live-in partner, Montecalvo acted strangely when he arrived home.
It was last Thursday night when Jelina failed to return home from school.
Based on the autopsy conducted by Dr. Nestor Satur, chief of the PNP Crime Laboratory, Jelina died due to asphyxia or strangulation.
Autopsy showed there were no indications that the girl was raped.
The parents of Jelina, a second year high school student of San Miguel National High School, reported to the police last Thursday night when the girl failed to return home.
Relatives and neighbors tried to look for the girl the next morning until she was found inside a well which was about 18 meters deep.
The girl’s body was found upside down and her face was covered with mud./CORRESPONDENT GABRIEL C. BONJOC