18-yr.-old LGBTQIA+ found dead at a river in Cagayan; family cries for justice

Amulung, Cagayan - An 18-year-old member of the LGBTQIA+ community was found dead at  the river along the boundary of Amulung and Iguig in Cagayan on June 23.  

The victim was identified as Gian Molina from Peñablanca, an incoming first-year college student.  

According to Gian’s mother, based on information from the XFM-Tuguegarao, the victim left their home around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, to sleep over at a friend’s house in Zone 5, Peñablanca.  Gian’s friend informed the family that she will be picked up by a motorcycle. 

Somehow, on Sunday night, June 22, two of Gian’s friends visited the family and asked if the victim had returned home. The family was shocked as they expected these same friends were the last people Gian was with.  

The family then reported the matter to the authorities and posted on social media that Gian is missing. 

On the morning of June 23, the family received a call from the Amulung Police Station, informing them about a dead body found at the river in the town.  Arriving at the location, the family confirmed that the body found is Gian.  

In the ongoing investigation, a certain Sherwin surrendered himself to the police, saying he only wanted to clear his name after he was tagged in Facebook posts as one of the killers.  

Sherwin confessed to police that he was the one who picked Gian up on June 22, but he was not the one who killed the victim. According to him, there were two to three others involved, yet he refused to name them or share the places they went that evening.  

As of this writing, Sherwin is under police custody while authorities await the official autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death. 

 Anyone who has information about the case is encouraged to come forward and help bring justice for Gian. 

In a Facebook post, Gian’s brother, John Andrei, expressed his deep sorrow over the loss of his younger sibling. “Ading ko. Miss ka na ni Kuya JA. Paramdam ka a. Dipa nags-sink in sakin. Di pa din tanggap ni kuya. Dito ka muna ha! Aayusin ni kuya. Mahal ka namin, ading ko,” John Andrei wrote.