IT REMAINED a puzzle for the police how two 4-year-old boys ended up dead inside a car parked at an Antipolo City subdivision.
The bodies of Aljo Malaco and Renz Alcoriza were found around 3 p.m. Monday inside the Mitsubishi Lancer (UCJ 118) owned by Jonathan Tupaz, a resident of Cavalier Subdivision, Barangay Sta. Cruz.
In a statement to the police, Tupaz said he usually left his car unlocked whenever he parked it on the street just outside his residence since he was confident about the subdivision’s security.
When he stepped out of his house Monday afternoon, he found the two boys lying motionless in the car—one in the driver’s seat and the other in the front passenger seat—and the vehicle already locked.
The boys’ relatives later confirmed their identities, saying they were playmates from nearby Sitio Santa Cruz.
Pending autopsy results, the boys appeared to have died from suffocation, according to Antipolo police chief Supt. Danilo Laguna Jr.
It was possible that they got into the car to play and accidentally locked themselves in, Laguna said.
The boys’ parents, however, pressed for a full investigation as they suspected foul play, noting the injuries they found on the bodies.
Aljo was found with a bump on his head, while Renz had bruises on his body, Laguna quoted the parents as saying.
The two boys were last seen by their parents playing around 8 a.m. Monday, the police official said.