A 12-year-old school­girl was found dead in a busy area near a recre­ation ground in her neigh­bour­hood at Friend­ship Vil­lage, Ste Madeleine, yes­ter­day.

Po­lice said Mari­ah Seenath had a bruise on her stom­ach, and grass was found around her neck.

She was dis­cov­ered around 12.40 pm by a woman who told po­lice she was walk­ing in the area when she saw sev­er­al dogs in the track.

Up­on check­ing, she saw the child’s mo­tion­less body. She said she hur­ried home and con­tact­ed the po­lice.

In­ves­ti­ga­tors said Seenath’s body was about five feet off the track in a bushy area. She was clad in black three-quar­ter track pants and a grey jer­sey. She was a stu­dent of Ste Madeleine Sec­ondary School.

In­ves­ti­ga­tors are await­ing the re­sults of an au­top­sy to de­ter­mine how she died.

Un­con­firmed re­ports in­di­cat­ed that the child left her grand­moth­er’s home around 7 am for her home at Third Street, Cir­cle Dri­ve, but nev­er made it.

Ste Madeleine Po­lice are in­ves­ti­gat­ing.