Ica Policarpio
The disappearance of 17-year-old Ica Policarpio was caused by “deep emotional distress” and not a prank, her family clarified in a statement on Tuesday night.
Ica, whose missing posters had been shared by thousands on social media, still went viral even after she was found. This time, netizens alleged that the Grade 12 student’s runaway act was part of an infamous “millennial” act.
‘Deep emotional distress’
“I have learned firsthand from my sister Ica that she had no knowledge of any ‘48-hour challenge.’ She did not join any such challenge. Her disppearance was not a prank,” read the Policarpio family message which was posted by Bea, Ica’s elder sister.
Ica disappeared “out of deep emotional distress,” the family said. “The reasons for her distress are numerous and honestly, private.”
The “48-hour challenge” is a prank game circulating on Facebook in October which encourages children to go missing — rather go into hiding — for two days at most.
While parents and family members are frantically looking for the “missing child,” participants earn “points,” for every like, reaction or post shared of their posters.
The “missing child” will then return safe after the prank, and the next one will take the challenge.
Police, however, were not keen on looking at this angle.
In a press conference on Dec. 24 when Ica was found in San Pablo, Laguna, National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said they were looking if Ica ran away by herself or someone might have influenced her to run away from home after a “misunderstanding” with her father.
From a coffee shop in Sucat, Muntinlupa, on Dec. 21, Ica headed north to Quezon City, then rode a bus to Lucena, Quezon province, where she took another bus ride to San Pablo, Laguna.
The family said that Ica was still being evaluated medically to check if she had been suffering “from so much pain not just in the recent past, but apparently, for several months, and even years prior.”
They appealed to the public to spare their youngest daughter from judgment and hate. “She is only 17, still a child. Please, we beg you that you do not judge her and that you help her safeguard her future.”
‘Wakeup call’
More than anything, the experience was a “wakeup call” for the Policarpios and other families “to be more sensitive with their children’s emotional needs.”
The Policarpio family thanked the police and the public for helping them find Ica. They also apologized for “all the worry and inconvenience that we have caused everyone, especially at a season that is supposed to be joyful.”