Family Reunited with Woman Missing for 10 Years
A woman with special needs who went missing for 10 years was reunited with her family after being rescued by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). The woman’s family resides in Sibulan Negros Oriental but she was retrieved from Tarlac.
Running Away
Mary (not her real name) was in Manila with her mother who needed to undergo a surgical procedure. One day, Mary (who was still 12 years old then) was moping and eventually ran away. She wasn’t found by her family since. Mary said that she ran away and stayed at the Luneta Park until the Department of Social Welfare and Development took her to a halfway house.
Adoption & Running Away…Again
A policeman was kind enough to take Mary into his home with his wife to live as a family. She was treated well until the policeman died and her abusive stepmother took charge of the house. She ran away and went to the Luneta Park again. This time a woman picked her up and brought her to Tarlac offering her to work in a beerhouse.
She was then dropped off and a gay male brought her to Paniqui, Tarlac where Mary was left in the hands of a security guard. With the separation from his wife, Mary became the replacement and the live-in partner of the security guard. The two became immediately lived-in partners without going through courtship. After 10 years, Mary is now a 22 years old woman in Tarlac.
Rescued by CHR
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) rescued Mary (not her real name) from her live-in partner and was brought back in Negros Oriental despite the refusal of the security guard. Due to the weather in Luzon, they were forced to travel by land and not by air. The CHR office forwarded to the authorities of Mary’s rescue after her family saw some post on social media of her and her live-in partner of 6-7 years and their whereabouts.
Mary was then reunited on Monday with her family in Sibulan, Negros Oriental. Although she is suffering from memory lapses and could not give full details of her experience, Mary is surely safe with her true family at home.
