By CESAR JOLITO III

Authorities are investigating the death of a 13-year-old girl whose body was discovered in a sugarcane field at Barangay Poblacion West in Negros Occidental’s Candoni town.

Candoni police chief, Police Captain Leonel Adolacion, said the girl was last seen alive on Sunday afternoon, April 26, after she was asked by her mother to buy ice at a sari-sari store in Barangay Haba.

She did not return home afterward, prompting her family to initially believe she may have stayed with friends.

After failing to locate her despite search efforts, the family reported her missing.

Her body was later found the following day by a 15-year-old minor and companions in a nearby sugarcane plantation.

Police said the victim sustained a forehead injury caused by an unidentified object.

Authorities noted that her clothing remained intact when she was discovered.

The victim’s remains have been undergoing post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death and whether foul play was involved.

Investigators are currently reviewing closed-circuit television footage in the area and have identified persons of interest as they work to establish the circumstances leading to the incident./CJ, WDJ