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SCMP Reporter

Decomposed bodies found in home

A suspected serial killer believed to have raped and killed 28 children has been arrested in the northeastern city of Jiamusi in what could be the country's biggest such case

Gong Runbo, 32, is believed to have lured 28 teenagers, most of them boys, from an internet cafe to his home - where the decomposed bodies of the children were found.

Gong confessed to raping the victims, the Shenyang-based Huashang Morning Post reported.

The report said 28 pairs of children's shoes were discovered at Gong's home  during a two-day search. Detectives also found two barrels of bones, a plastic bag containing children's socks and 65 other items of children's clothing.

Chen Shufen , mother of one of the dead boys, said the corpses were barely recognisable with 'eyeballs scooped out, chests opened up and ears chopped off'.

An officer at  Songlin police station  confirmed the arrest, but refused to  elaborate.

Calls to the Jiamusi Public Security Bureau and its Xiangyang branch, which investigated the case, went unanswered yesterday.

Authorities in Heilongjiang  were reportedly alerted to the case after a teenage boy escaped from Gong's home and reported the case to police.

The teenager was picked up on Monday last week at Tianlin Internet Cafe by a man in his 30s, who took the boy back to his home with promises of food and somewhere to stay. The man showed the boy the corpses and told him that he would meet a similar fate if he disobeyed, the newspaper said.

After regaining his composure, the boy reportedly told the man that they could go to his home and steal some money because nobody was in. The man agreed, but fled when he realised there were many people at the boy's home.

The family reported the incident to the police and Gong was arrested the following day.

Cases of children disappearing in the area date back at least a year, when an 11-year-old girl was reported missing, according to the newspaper. It quoted a relative as saying Gong had previously served eight years in jail for living with a 15-year-old girl, and after getting out of jail either last year or in 2004, had worked at the Tianlin Internet Cafe for two months.

The newspaper also quoted victims' families complaining of dereliction of duty by local police.

The families said they were not aware of any police warnings over the potential danger in the area.

Officers at the police station, the branch bureau and the municipal Public Security Bureau had told them to wait until the deaths of their children had been confirmed.

National regulations ban juveniles from internet cafes, which have developed a dangerous reputation in recent years.

In December 2003, Huang Yong, who killed 17 juveniles over two years, was given the death penalty in Henan province. He lured teenage boys  from internet cafes to feel the 'thrill of killing'.



Man held over rape, murder of 28 children