8-year-old who missed dinner, found dead inside sack

A missing 8-year-old child was found dead in Rizal after she went missing on September 11.

According to a 24 Oras report by Bernadette Reyes on Friday, the body of victim Rylai Kaye Barrun was found rotting inside a sack by a neighbor.

The victim’s parents said that they only noticed she was missing when she did not show up for dinner.

“Noong 8:30, nagsabi ako sa papa niya [na] mag-sandok ka na [at] pakainin mo mga bata. Si Rylai, wala pa [kaya] tawagin mo. Nangatok na po kami. Lahat ng bahay ng kalaro niya, kinatok namin. Hindi raw po nila nakita,” said the victim’s mother Kristelle Alborta.

(At 8:30, I told her father [to] prepare the food [and] feed the children. Rylai still isn’t here, so call her. We looked around all the houses of her playmates. They said they didn’t see her)

The family immediately announced that she was missing on social media and filed a report with the police.

“Yung nakadiscover kasi, may nakita siyang sako nga doon sa lugar kung saan may malimit magtapon ng basura. So, nang tangalin iyon sa gilid ng kanyang bakod at dadalhin doon sa kabila, doon niya nakita na may nakasilid na bata. So far, ongoing pa rin yung ating backtracking. Sa ngayon, blurred pa rin tayo. Based sa initial observation natin, mayroon siyang mga injuries sa mukha eh,” said Taytay Police chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Gaylor Pagala.

(The person who discovered her found the sack at a place where garbage was often disposed of. So, when he removed it from his backyard and attempted to throw it elsewhere, that’s when they found that there was a child inside. So far, the backtracking is still ongoing. As of now, it’s still blurred. Based on our initial observation, there are injuries on her face)

The authorities have since found CCTV footage of the victim playing at around 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Taytay Police have moved to create two teams, one focused on backtracking and one focused on identifying the suspect, to resolve the issue.

The police and the victim’s family are now calling for possible leads into the victim’s death.

“Grabe po, hindi makatao yung ginawa mo. Napakabata pa ng anak ko, wala pang kamalay-malay... Hindi sumagi sa isip namin na may gagawa ng ganoon sa anak namin kasi wala kaming kaaway. Wala kaming kagalit, hindi naman sya salbahe,” Albotra said.

(What you did was inhumane. My child is so young and innocent… It didn’t occur to me that someone would do that to my child because we didn’t have enemies. There was no one angry at us and she’s not naughty)

“Sumuko na lang para harapin kung anuman yung ginawa nyang krimen, nang sa gayon mabigyan din naman ng hustisya ang sinapit ng isang batang muwang,” added Pagala.

(The suspect should surrender and answer for his crimes so that justice can be served for the innocent child.)