CEBU CITY – A 10-year-old boy was found dead at the backseat of a sedan car owned by a fireman in Balamban, Cebu Saturday.
Police identified the fatality as John Michael Puentegara, a Grade 1 pupil.
Police Major Christian Torres, Balamban police chief, said that based on the result of an examination conducted by a doctor, the boy died of suffocation.
“It appeared that the boy had been in the car for about 12 hours before he was found. He may have fallen asleep and eventually got suffocated. There were no signs of struggle inside the car which may suggest that there was foul play in the death,” Torres said.
Torres added that they were still awaiting decision of the boy’s parents whether or not to have the body autopsied.
He said it remained unclear how the boy was able to enter the Hyundai Accent car owned by Fire Officer 1 Paul Romero.
Romero parked the car in front of the town fire station in Barangay Sta. Cruz when he reported for work past midnight last Saturday.
It was around 2 p.m. when Romero went to his car to get his jacket when he saw a boy at the backseat lying face down on the floor.
The boy was already dead when paramedics arrived.
Romero couldn’t tell how the boy was able to enter when he locked the door before leaving.
“The car also has a system wherein it automatically locks about five to 10 seconds after it is left unlocked,” Torres said.
The boy’s parents were not interested in pursuing legal charges against the car owner, Torres said.
“We could not hold the owner of the car because in our initial findings, there was no negligence on his part,” said Torres. (Calvin D. Cordova)