Police in Samoa are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 14 year old girl who was reported missing by her family.
The student’s body was discovered floating off the coast of Utuali’i by a group of fishermen, a day after a missing person’s report was lodged with police.
Police Spokesperson Su’a Muliaga Tiumalu says there are a lot of witness accounts of the girl’s disappearance from Tuesday August 16 to Wednesday, August 17 when her body was found.
“On Tuesday the 16, the owner of the boat reported to Police that it had gone missing and possibly stolen,” said Su’a.
It was around the same time, the young girl went missing as well.
“In investigations, we came through a couple of witnesses linking the two cases. They claim they saw the girl get in a dinghy-like boat, It was then that she proceeded to start the engine and drove the boat out to sea,” added Su’a.
“We contacted the family and they confirmed that the body found was the body of the young girl that was in the missing report description the day before. Her body is now at Motootua hospital awaiting time for a post mortem to see if any signs of a struggle or a cause of death to be determined. But as of the police findings, there were no bruises on the young girl’s body,” said Su’a.
The deceased is understood to be from a village in the Vaimauga district.
Su’a confirmed that the missing dinghy boat was located later in Savai’i and the owner has verified that it belongs to him.
There was no damage to the boat.