DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Police authorities are trying to decode a cryptic message found Saturday near the crime scene where an 8-year-old girl was raped and murdered last week is a sugarcane field near her house in the outskirts village of Bajumpandan in this city.
Superintendent James Goforth, City Police chief, on Sunday disclosed that it was still unclear to investigators what and who the coded message was intended for and who wrote it.
He however believed it was linked to the death of Catherine Sinuag, a Grade III pupil, whose body was found Wednesday morning to have been raped and brutally killed with her throat slashed after being reported missing the night before.
Goforth further disclosed that unverified information reaching him on Sunday shows the cryptic code reportedly originated from a cult group in Siaton town, about an hour’s drive south from this capital city.
The message, which has yet to be deciphered, is believed to be some kind of “ritual to haunt†the perpetrator(s), Goforth said, but clarified that investigators were also looking at other potential motives for the coded message.
The probabilities range from the anonymous sender wanting to help identify and locate the suspect or give more leads for police investigators to pursue, he added. – (FREEMAN)