One 14-year-old was found dead in a ditch with injuries to her head, back and neck. Another was found drowned. A third died of complications after an abortion.
Not only were the three Uruguayan teenagers the same age; they had something else in common, too. According to child welfare and advocacy officials, they were among at least 20 children and teenagers who had been sexually exploited or trafficked around Treinta y Tres province while in state care.
Prosecutors are investigating the three deaths in Treinta y Tres, 290 kilometres north-east of the capital Montevideo, but the circumstances surrounding their deaths remain unknown.
