The forest where D's body was found. The tent was set up by rescue workers. — Photo tuoitre.vn

Đ. N. H., an 11th grader of Quynh Lưu 4 High School and the victim’s neighbour, on Wednesday admitted to having brought the boy to a forest in Yen Thanh District on Sunday, 10km from his house. His motive, according to H’s testimony, was to recreate a role-playing video game in which he would hide D and later bring him back like a hero.

However, as D’s family, local authorities and hundreds of residents started searching for the missing child, H got scared and decided not to take the boy home, leading to the child's death.

According to H’s teacher, he was transferred from Nguyen Duc Mau High School in the 10th grade’s second semester. Despite being friendly, H showed signs of being addicted to games, the teacher said. In the past two days, he went to school as normal.

Early Tuesday, H was summoned by local police for questioning.

As the victim's family is poor, the investigation agency excluded motives of extortion and abduction. Based on security camera footage, H was identified as the last person to have been in contact with the victim. When H showed police where he hid the boy, he was already dead.

Nghe An Province Police is now expanding the investigation into the case. — VNS