8-year-old child found dead in Valpaços. Body was abandoned in Serra da Padrela

The PJ is investigating the case of an eight-year-old child who was found dead this Wednesday in the municipality of Valpaços, after an alert was given about her disappearance.

Lara, aged 8, was allegedly suffocated to death by her stepmother. The woman confessed to the crime to the authorities and indicated where the girl’s body was.

In a statement, the PJ reported that the Vila Real Criminal Investigation Department of the PJ “identified and detained a 48-year-old woman, strongly accused of committing the crimes of qualified homicide and desecration of a corpsewhich occurred in the municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar, which killed an eight-year-old girl, his stepdaughter”.

The crime occurred in a context of successive conflicts between the child’s father and stepmother. The most recent disagreement began on Sunday, after an argument between the suspect’s son and the victim.

According to , the woman claimed that her partner showed more affection for her daughter than for her stepson.

Driven by feelings of revenge, the suspect planned the crime in order to simulate a kidnapping. To do so, he went to pick up Lara from school, claiming that the child had a doctor’s appointment.

The girl’s body was found by the Vila Real PJ, next to a backpack, in the Serra da Padrela, in Vila Pouca de Aguiar, close to the road, during the early hours of this Wednesday.

The disappearance was reported by the minor’s father at the Guard post, at 8:30 pm. Later, the stepmother was approached by authorities at the family residence.

According to the PJ, the investigations carried out allowed “to determine evidence that the victim had been the target of violent aggression, which resulted in his death, apparently due to mechanical asphyxiation”, says the PJ in a statement.

The suspect will be presented to the competent judicial authority for first judicial interrogation and application of coercive measures considered appropriate. The investigation continues under the direction of Valpaços Public Ministry.

The case occurred in the parish of Friões, in the municipality of Valpaços.