Missing woman found dead in a parked car at a petrol station

A Thai rescue team volunteer discovered the dead body of a missing woman in a car parked in a petrol station in the Sikhiao district of the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday.

The Thai rescue team volunteer detected an unpleasant smell when he parked his car at the petrol station. He realised it was the scent of a decomposing body, which he was familiar with due to his experience in the field.

He searched for the source of the smell and found the bloated corpse of a woman, later identified as 48 year old Kritsana Ponrak, on the driver’s seat of a grey Toyota Vios.

He immediately reported the finding at Sikhiao Police Station and Sikhiao Hospital. The police then transferred the entire car to the hospital for an autopsy.

The hospital reported that the woman died at least five days before the body was found. No visible wounds were found on her body. Medicine for depression and other underlying diseases were discovered inside the vehicle.

Kritsana’s daughter filed a missing person report at Daan Khun Tod Police Station on Friday, April 7. She disclosed that her mother left home at 1pm on April 5 and disappeared. She could not contact her and tried to look for her everywhere but to no avail.

Kritsana was reported to be a government official serving the Education Office in the province. CCTV footage from the petrol station showed that she entered the establishment on the evening of April 8.

Authorities believe that Kritsana was likely exhausted after travelling for work in another province and decided to rest at the petrol station. She may have fallen asleep in the hot weather and suffered a heat stroke, which ultimately led to her death.

The death is familiar to another one at the beginning of this month, a 31 year old Thai man named Samphong Boon-iam was found dead in front of a coffin shop in the central province of Kanchanaburi. It was believed that he died from heat stroke because the temperature on that day hit 40 degrees Celsius.

April is the official summer month in Thailand, and temperatures in every province have been on the rise since the end of March. According to the Thai Meteorological Department, temperatures could reach 43 degrees Celsius this month, and residents have been advised to take precautions against the heat and prepare for thunderstorms from April 19 to April 28.