By CESAR JOLITO III

A seven-year-old boy who had been missing for more than three weeks was found dead in a remote mountain area of Barangay Bacuyangan in Negros Occidental’s Hinoba-an town.

Police discovered the victim along the Saan River in Zone 8, where his remains were found in a decomposing state on June 11.

Hinoba-an police chief Major Eric Doronila said the boy was reported missing by his parents on May 29, although he had last been seen on May 21.

The family said the delay in reporting the incident was due to the distance and difficulty of reaching authorities in their remote community.

Initial accounts revealed that on May 21, the child accompanied his uncle to the mountains to gather betel leaves.

The uncle later returned home alone, prompting concern over the child’s disappearance.

Authorities said they later received information about a body found in the mountainous area on the afternoon of June 11.

Responding personnel confirmed that the remains belonged to the missing minor.

Police also noted that the child was believed to have had a mental health condition, raising the possibility that he became disoriented, wandered off, and eventually succumbed to hunger and exhaustion while alone in the forested terrain.

The family has declined to subject the remains to a postmortem examination, leaving the exact cause of death unconfirmed./CCJ, WDJ