LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS — Family and friends are mourning the loss of a Massachusetts teen who was horrifically beheaded by a classmate.
The Boston Globe reports that Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino disappeared on Nov. 18, leaving behind his phone and wallet.
The teen’s family had filed a missing person’s report, but authorities considered him a runaway and largely ignored the case.
Two weeks later, a woman walking her dog along the Merrimack River spotted his body near the riverbank.
He had been decapitated and gruesomely mutilated. Both arms were hacked below the elbow, and his head was lying about 50 feet away.
Police investigating the brutal slaying believe it was carried out by Viloria-Paulino’s classmate, 16-year-old Matthew Borges, but have not disclosed a motive for the murder.
Borges was arrested on Saturday after authorities found evidence linking him to the killing. He is expected to be charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
