Cebu City (CNN Philippines, March 11) — A Grade 9 student was found lifeless — her face skinned with her skull exposed — in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu on Monday. Authorities are hunting down three suspects in the brutal killing of the 16-year-old student.

She was found without her undergarments in a vacant lot in Barangay Bangkal. Senior Supt. Lemuel Obon, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office director, said the victim may have been raped because she was found naked from the waist down. He said she will be examined further by medical experts. She was identified by her family through the red shirt she was wearing before she left for church on Sunday.

Obon said witnesses saw the victim with three people on Sunday. He added the suspects might be under the influence of illegal drugs.

"We are tracing that now," he said.