Child, 8, found dead in Valpaços; stepmother arrested

The so-called step-mother of an eight-year-old child reported missing from her home in Valpaços (northern Portugal) has been arrested today after the child’s body was discovered, apparently strangled.

Reports coming through this far are low on detail. The child was reported missing by her father yesterday evening, explains SIC.

The father filed the missing persons report in Guarda, but the details relate to the parish of Friões, Valpaços, where the family live.

GNR police immediately sent agents to the area to start looking for the child, a girl, and contacted PJ police in Vila Real.

A ‘source’ tells SIC that, later, “the child was located, already dead”.

According to Correio da Manhã, the step-mother is the principal suspect in this investigation. Other news outlets have since reported that the step-mother is now under arrest.

So far, there is little more. Further details will be added to this story as it becomes more public. Certainly, Correio da Manhã seems to understand that this horrible outcome is related to a ‘family dispute’.

The child’s body was discovered, says the paper, in an isolated spot near a road, in the early hours of this morning.

Diariodistrito, a local online, has specifically mentioned the shock that is being felt in Valpaços, which it describes as a ‘small, united town’. Local residents are horrified, and extremely upset. “This incident brings questions of child safety and mechanisms for family protection to the fore,” says the online. “Authorities have called for calm, and guarantee that all efforts are being made so that justice will be done in this case that has so upset the region.”

Sources: SIC Notícias/ noticiasaominuto/ Correio da Manhã/ Diariodistrito.sapo.pt

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.