The recent killing of a 13-year-old girl at Crossing Balo, Brgy. Magallon Cadre, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, may have been a case of mistaken identity, police said yesterday.

Senior Inspector Robert Mansueto, Moises Padilla police chief, said the victim, identified as Clarita Rebocca was declared dead on arrival at the Isabela District Hospital. She succumbed to a stab wound in the abdomen.

Investigations by the Moises Padilla police show that the victim was sleeping at the house of her elder brother, Carmelo, when she was stabbed by the suspect, who reportedly used a pointed steel tube.

Mansueto said Rebocca may have been mistaken by the suspect as her brother, as she was using his blanket while sleeping.

On her way to the hospital, he said the victim managed to describe the physical features of her assailant, who is now the subject of a follow-up operation by the Moises Padilla police investigators.

The victim, a second year student of the Quinten Remo National High School in Moises Padilla, was supposed to mark her 14 th birthday on Oct. 22.* GPB

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