Body of 12-year-old girl found in Galician countryside

Parents had reported child missing three hours earlier Police see evidence of violence

Santiago de Compostela -
Civil Guard agents guard the site where the 12-year-old girl's body was found on Sunday.OSCAR CORRAL (EFE)

The body of a 12-year-old girl was discovered by walkers Sunday in woodland in Cacheiras, in the Teo district outside of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. There was “evidence” of violence in the case, investigators said, but she had apparently not been sexually assaulted. The girl’s adoptive parents had reported her missing a few hours earlier.

Civil Guard investigators believe the child died from asphyxiation, according to a report broadcast on the Ser radio network. The case is under a judicial secrecy order and in the hands of Judge José Antonio Vázquez Taín. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Sunday afternoon.

The girl, who was of Chinese origin, was an only child and a noted student at her local school in Santiago, sources close to her family said.