A region-wide manhunt was launched by the authorities to arrest the suspect in the slay of a Grade 12 student in Toledo City, midwest Cebu.

The 18-year-old woman was found dead in a room of a lodging house in Barangay Poblacion, Toledo City.

The suspect was determined to be her companion hours before her body was found, based on a CCTV footage of the lodging house.

The body of Mae Fatima Tagactac was found past 8 a.m. on September 20, 2024. Police disclosed that her hands were tied, and that her mouth was gagged with a cloth.

The body was placed under autopsy to determine the cause of her death, and help establish the possibility of rape before she was killed.

In an investigation conducted by the Toledo City Police, Mae Fatima asked permission from her siblings to attend a dance practice with her classmates on September 19, 2024. As she was not able to get home that night, her family began to worry and started posting a “missing person” notice on their social media accounts.

Based on the establishment's CCTV footage, Mae Fatima was with a man she met purportedly through social media.

According to the chief of the Toledo City Police Station, Police Lt. Col. Manolo Salvatierra, the victim and the suspect went inside a lodging house at 3 p.m. on September 19, 2024. When no one came out of the room after the rented hours lapsed, an attendant knocked on the door. As noobody came to open the door after repeated knocks, the attendants decided to force the door open.

Mae Fatima's limp body was found sprawled inside the room.

Later, the police identified the suspect as 43-year-old Lorben Cabugsan Barot, and that he has been renting a space in the vicinity of Pier 1, Cebu City with his live-in partner.

Police learned that he did not return to the rented space since the night of September 20, 2024. A regional manhunt operation was launched against the suspect.