DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—Two grade school children were found floating dead at the Angalacan River in Pozorrubio town, police said on Saturday.
The bodies of Jessica Lara, 13, a grade 6 pupil of Nantangalan Elementary School, and Michelle Tamondong, 11, a grade 5 pupil of the same school, have been retrieved, said Supt. Ferdinand de Asis, Pangasinan police spokesperson.
Lara’s remains were found floating on the river by a passenger of a passing tricycle along a village road in Barangay Dilan at 11 p.m. on Friday (April 8).
At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday (April 9), Tamondong’s body surfaced a few meters away from where Lara’s body was fished out.
Investigators said the girls may have left their houses in Barangay Nagtangalan between 3 and 4 p.m. on Friday to swim at the river without their parents’ knowledge.
Their families searched for them from 5 to 7 p.m. when they failed to return home.
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