Girl found in Liloan raped first then killed

According to the autopsy report of the medico legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation, the girl whose body was found in the waters off Liloan town last Wednesday morning was sodomized before she was murdered.

NBI-7 medico legal officer Rene Cam said that based on the injuries sustained by the victim, she may have been raped by one or more persons.

The victim sustained bruises on both left and right forearms and a dislocated neck with evident bruises on both sides, which caused her death.

The dislocation, which was the only fatal injury the victim suffered, might have been caused by twisting the head causing the neck to snap or by hitting the victim's nape with a hard object, Cam explained.

Other autopsy findings revealed that although the girl was sodomized, her vagina was left intact. The violation may have been with a hard blunt object or a man's genital. There was no seminal fluid to support this claim as seawater may have washed it out.

Cam, who performed the autopsy around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday said he believes the girl could not have been dead more than 12 hours before his autopsy because the body had not fully lapsed into rigor mortis. Also, the absence of seawater in her stomach and lungs suggested that she was already dead when dumped into the sea, Cam added.

Liloan police station deputy chief, SPO4 Eleazar Salomon said that as of press time no relatives have claimed the body now with the Westland Funeral Homes in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

The victim was described as 4'11" tall, either 17 or 18 years old, with elbow-length curly hair, red manicured fingernails and pink pedicured toenails.

Police also recovered a Timex wristwatch, a silver ring with the word "Love" on it, a pair of gold earrings, a gold necklace, a red t-shirt with the print "Sports Canada Athletics" and blue jogging pants with PE markings.

The girl was towed ashore last Wednesday morning by Primo Awoman, who found the body while he was about to go fishing.

Police urged families with missing members to visit their office or the said funeral home to identify the body. - Edwin Ian Melecio of Banat News