Chumphon police launch investigation into missing man and suspected murder

In Chumphon, police invited the mother and relatives of a missing man for questioning in relation to a suspected murder. The case involves a corpse which was abandoned and is believed to be the same missing person. Authorities are hastening to examine fingerprints and conduct DNA checks on bone fragments for identification.

Sakritchaya Sukkanit, the Deputy Investigation Chief of Chumphon Police Station, today, January 10, summoned 55 year old Suwannee Sriphichit, along with her daughter and other relatives to provide initial statements for the ongoing investigation.

The inquiry was initiated after Suwannee reported on January 8, that her 36 year old son, Jirasak Triyuang, went missing from home on January 3, around 6pm. He disappeared along with a white Toyota Yaris car, registration number 6515 Chumphon, and a white Toyota pickup truck, the registration number of which is unknown. Since then, he has been unreachable, reported KhaoSod.

Around the same time, a murder victim was found abandoned in a forest near a canal-side road in Nong Yai, Chumphon. After Suwannee provided her statement to the Chumphon Police Station, she met with Shinawut Silpasawat, the Investigation Chief of Chumphon Police Station, who is leading the homicide investigation. The meeting lasted over two hours before Suwannee left without making any comments to the press.

Jirasak, also known as Ton, had separated from his family and was running a small mini-mart in Tha Sae District, Chumphon, with a male friend named Em. The two often had disputes and the shop was regularly closed. Since Jirasak’s disappearance, along with two cars, Em has also been missing and uncontactable.

Meanwhile, Chumphon Police Station investigators obtained CCTV footage showing a suspicious white SUV passing through a house before reaching the spot where the body was found. The vehicle was spotted at 10.16pm on January 7, and is suspected to be the one used to dump the body.

The body was sent for autopsy at Surat Thani Hospital, where preliminary findings revealed that the deceased died from a head wound. However, the victim’s identity could not be confirmed due to decomposition of the thumb and index fingers.

The available fingerprints were sent to an unnamed centre with specialised expertise and equipment for identification. Bone fragments were also sent for DNA testing to be compared with the relatives of Khomkai Saelim, a caravan sales worker whose name was found on a doctor’s appointment card left in a suspicious tent. The DNA will also be compared with that of Suwannee to check for a match.

In related news, a Thai woman mysteriously disappeared for a week in southern Thailand. Her ex-husband reported seeing her get into a car with two women before losing contact.