AFTER searching for a week a hundred-strong team of policemen, villagers and rescuers today (May 13) found the body of murdered half Thai and British teenager’s girlfriend buried in a Lampang forest a little further away from the spot he was beaten to death, Sanook.com said.
Policemen from Sop Prap and Ko Kha stations assisted by Ko Kha Association rescuers and volunteers from Ban Hat Pu Dai village in Na Saeng subdistrict, Koh Kha district, spread out to search for the missing teenager, only identified by her nickname Ping Pong, 16.
Although the body of her boyfriend, also only identified as Ben, 17, was found eight metres away from Ban Mae Than-Sop Prap road in Mae Tha district, with his face severely beaten and his jaw broken last Sunday (May 7), she remained missing.
The suspect arrested in Ben’s murder, Mr. Chaiwat (surname withheld), or Wat, 44, only confessed to crime after lengthy interrogation but remained tightlipped about Ping Pong’s whereabouts.
The suspect accused the deceased teenagers of being drug runners and that he had arranged to pick up some drugs at the grove where Ben’s body was found. After it emerged that the teenagers had lied to him about where the drugs were hidden he got angry then beat Ben to death with a stick.
The big search for Ping Pong’s body was mounted after police got important clues that the suspect had left her at the spot where her body was found. Her last mobile phone signal before disappearing was also from this area.
At around 11 a.m. today police found two suspicious newly-dug holes in the forest around 50 metres away from Phaholyothin road heading towards Sop Prap district. The first one was not dug very deep while the second one nearby too was abandoned upon hitting hard ground.
Police later found a fallen tree beneath which soil was filled and a lot of stones placed on top.
Rescuers dug this spot until an arm as well as blood and mud stained clothes emerged. Police then called a forensic team to come and investigate.
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Ping Pong and a police dog helping search for her, above, and alone, Front Page. Both photos: Sanook.com
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