A girl of approximately 12 years old was found dead inside a sewer in the Juan José Rondón neighborhood, in the locality of Ciudad Bolívar, in the south of Bogotá. The discovery occurred between 4:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 15, when, apparently, several children, students from a nearby educational institution, entered to play in a water channel.
According to the report from Citytv, the children had advanced between 70 and 100 meters through the conduit until they found the body.
One of the residents told the media how several neighbors and a police officer checked what was inside the structure.
“We were there with the police officer and first they came and looked there between the hole and with the cellphone light they focused there and yes. Then it was when we brought the bar and the crowbar and uncovered and opened it and yes, the girl was there,” he said.
The same witness explained how the children had reached the point where they found the victim: “They went there through the pipe and managed to walk the 70 m when they stumbled upon that image and that was when they realized and got scared and turned back”.
After verifying the situation, the residents removed the sewer cover with a bar and a crowbar, while notifying the emergency line 123.
Firefighters carried out the rescue
After receiving the call, officers assigned to the CAI San Francisco went to the site, according to Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Torres, commander of the Ciudad Bolívar Police Station.
“It is in the Juan José Rondón neighborhood of the Ciudad Bolívar locality, where officers assigned to the CAI San Francisco respond to the community’s call to the emergency line 123, where the lifeless body of a minor is found inside a water conduit,” Torres stated.
Units from the Official Fire Department of Bogotá also arrived at the site, carrying out the necessary maneuvers to extract the victim from a depth of at least four meters.
Once the body was recovered, members of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Attorney General’s Office conducted the technical inspection of the corpse and the collection of evidence.
Authorities investigate the circumstances of the death
The Attorney General’s Office and the Police are advancing in clarifying the case to determine what happened to the girl and establish the causes of her death.
“Work is immediately underway in coordination with the Attorney General’s Office and the CTI to establish the causes of the girl’s death,” said Commander Torres.
Among the preliminary hypotheses, according to Citytv, is the possibility that the girl was a victim of sexual assault and entered the channel alive. This is still under investigation.
The authorities are also investigating whether the girl could belong to an indigenous community settled in Bogotá. This line of inquiry arose from the morphology of the body and information that the victim usually remained barefoot, according to the cited media.
Forensic Medicine seeks to identify the victim
The body was taken to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, where examinations will be carried out to officially establish the identity of the girl and the exact cause of her death.
So far, no data has been released that confirms who the girl was. Also, during the coverage by Citytv, it was indicated that the Police had no previous reports of missing minors in the area.
The authorities will review the security cameras in the area to determine if the girl could have been brought to the place on foot, by motorcycle, or by vehicle.
One of the residents told the media that the girl was not known in the neighborhood and suggested that the recordings could help determine how she got there: “No, the girl is not from around here. I think the girl was brought, so that is what should be checked in the cameras, if she was brought on foot, by motorcycle, or by car, because the girl is not from here, she is not known. And here the Police said there were no reports of missing persons.”
Finally, residents of the area expressed their concern about children entering the channel and requested the water company to install a ramp-type security grate at the entrance of the structure.
*Article developed with AI support and reviewed by a journalist.
