Bodies of a couple found buried in Isaan province remain unknown

The naked corpses of a Thai woman and a foreign man discovered buried in a forest near Baan Tung Arun Community in Chok Chai district, Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat, Isaan province, remain unidentified.

Police reported yesterday that the investigation to find out who they were continues after revealing enquiries had been made to a number of hospitals specializing in silicone surgery, tattoo parlours, and stores that sell ammunition.

On July 26, a Baan Tung Arun Community resident went into the forest foraging for mushrooms and stumbled upon some land subsidence about 2 kilometres from the community and 400-500 metres away from the road. He reported it to the community leader who dismissed it at first adding it was probably because of the heavy rain.

Three days later the same resident informed the community leader that the land had subsided even further. So, the community leader and some locals decided to dig at the spot where they eventually unearthed two dead naked bodies.

The female body was found first near the top of the pit while the male body was found at the bottom. The pit was filled with mortar and then covered again with soil and dried leaves to hide the bodies from passersby.

The community leader contacted officers at Chok Chai Police Station to report the dead bodies and the investigation to identify the bodies began.

The corpses were sent to a hospital for an autopsy. The report revealed the man is a foreigner aged between 40 – 50 years old while the woman is Thai aged between 30 and 40 years old.

The man had three bullet wounds to the head while the woman had a single shot wound near her eyes. Officers believe the couple had been dead for two to four weeks when they were found.

On July 31, 20 police officers combed the area looking for clues and found three bullet shells about 1 -2 metres away from the pit. They added that they had already identified the type of gun that was used in the murder and would investigate it more.

Police also focused on the woman’s tattoos and silicone breast surgery. The woman had four tattoos, including mandala patterns near her hip, a black flower on the right arm, Ganesha on her left leg, and a beckoning (maneki-neko) black cat on the left leg. Police invited a tattoo specialist to identify each tattoo and where the woman might have gone to get them.

Fingerprint specialists were also called in to see if they could match up the dead couple’s prints with residents’ data.

Yesterday, the Deputy Commissioner-General, Suchart Teerasawat, met with the investigation team for three hours. Suchart reported to the media that the police had a difficult case on their hands but added that with over 1000 cases under his belt he was confident he would crack the case

SOURCE: Thairath | Naewna | One 31