Father and Stepmother Indicted for Kidnapping with Homicide in Pangasinan
Authorities have indicted the father and stepmother of a seven-year-old girl on charges of kidnapping with homicide after the child’s body was discovered along the shoreline of Dagupan City, Pangasinan. The tragic incident has shocked the local community and raised concerns about child safety.
According to officials, the Dagupan City prosecutor’s office formally charged the couple following their arrest at their home in Sison, Pangasinan, on August 15. The girl, who hailed from Barangay Bantog, Asingan, was reported missing the day before her body was found.
Details of the Incident and Investigation
The girl was last seen on August 14, when witnesses reported seeing her being forcibly taken into a white Toyota Fortuner by unidentified individuals. The following morning, at approximately 5:56 a.m., the child’s unclothed body was found inside a garbage bag at Tondaligan Beach in Barangay Bonuan Gueset, according to Dagupan City police reports.
“While backtracking the vehicle used to kidnap the victim, we confirmed that the car was rented… We identified the man and the woman in the rent contract through the CCTV footage of the car owner’s house,” said Lt. Col. Lawrence Calub, the officer in charge of Dagupan police, in Filipino.
Calub added that the suspects captured in the footage were identified as the victim’s father and stepmother, who were arrested on the same day the body was discovered.
Possible Motive and Family Conflict
Chief Inspector Divino Rallos, the case investigator, suggested that the possible motive behind the crime was revenge. “Possible motive is revenge,” he said during a phone interview.
Rallos explained that the victim’s mother revealed ongoing disputes with the father concerning financial support for their child. “Since the father married a different woman, the father stopped providing financial support, the victim’s mom told us,” he added in Filipino.
Further complicating the case, the mother informed authorities that after she threatened to file charges over the lack of support, the father secretly swabbed the child for a DNA test. The results reportedly indicated no biological relation between the father and the girl.
“The victim told the mother that her father swabbed her, and he called them saying the victim is not his child,” the investigator said. However, no official DNA test results have been submitted or found by investigators so far.
Community Impact and Ongoing Investigation
The arrest and indictment of the father and stepmother have brought a somber mood to the community in Pangasinan. Authorities continue to investigate the case to uncover all circumstances leading to this heartbreaking event.
Local leaders and residents have expressed their grief and called for justice for the young victim. The case highlights the urgent need for stronger protections for children and better support systems for families facing conflict.
For more news and updates on kidnapping with homicide, visit Filipinokami.com.
