DLSU coed’s kidnap story ‘improbable’

A police investigator has noted inconsistencies in the statements of a Filipino-American “student,” who claimed she was abducted from the De La Salle University (DLSU) campus on Taft Avenue in Manila last Friday.

During an ocular inspection of the campus yesterday, Police Officer 2 Ronald Carlos said it was highly improbable for the 17-year-old “victim” to be abducted after coming out of a women’s comfort room since the hallway is equipped with a closed-circuit television camera. There are also guards on duty near the comfort room who may be alerted if something “unusual occurred in the area.”

The girl allegedly smelled something “weird” in one of the women’s comfort rooms at the Bro. Andrew Gonzalez building at the DLSU campus. The smell made her dizzy and she said she was half-conscious when she left the building, but eventually passed out.

She said she regained consciousness inside a red car parked at a secluded place in Cubao, Quezon City. She said she managed to get out of the car and escaped from three men talking outside the car. She said she lost a set of diamond earrings and ring worth P120,000, and a wallet containing P4,000 and $200 and ATM cards. She said her abductors could have taken them while she was unconscious.  

DLSU authorities issued an official statement yesterday that the girl is no longer a student at the university.

In a statement sent to The STAR, Gian Carlo Vizcarra, DLSU public relations officer, said the girl’s last enrollment was for the third trimester of school year 2007-2008 , which ended in April 2008.

The university’s records also show no mention of her name on the campus entry logs on Aug. 1, the date of the alleged incident, DLSU said.

Vizcarra said that since the girl did not enroll for the current semester, her ID is no longer valid and she cannot enter the university campus without signing the entrance logbook.

“De La Salle University assures the public and its various stakeholders that it gives utmost importance to the safety of students under its care through stringent security measures,” he said.     – Nestor Etolle