Remains of missing 14-year-old girl found

KIDAPAWAN CITY — Residents of Nicaan village in Libungan, North Cotabato on Saturday afternoon were horrified to find the dismembered remains of a 14-year-old girl, who had been reported missing since Feb. 15.

The discovery of the body of Mary-Ann Macunan happened when residents took notice of stray dogs viciously fighting over something, Rey Dimasuay, the village’s chief said.

Dimasuay said when several villagers verified what the fight among the hounds were all about, they discovered the dismembered remains of a human on a grassy portion near the cluster of houses in the village.

“Much of the parts had been detached already but the cadaver was still identifiable and it belonged to the missing girl,” he said.

Dimasuay said Macunan, a first year high school student at Nicaan National High School, failed to return to her boarding house after she left on Feb. 15, purposely to visit her grandmother, who lives in the nearby village.

Dimasuay said they suspected that the girl had been raped before being
killed.

“Her underwear was found several meters away from where her body was found,” he said.

An incensed North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza told a local radio station she had ordered the police to fast track its investigation of the incident and bring the perpetrators before the bar of justice.