Police were searching for a body in a pond near Assumption University in Samut Prakan last night as they hunted for missing Japanese man Yoshinori Tetsuo. Police believe the man was killed and left in the pond.
Investigators are also probing the role of a Thai woman and her husband in connection with the mysterious disappearance of Mr Tetsuo who was reported missing from his apartment in Din Daeng by his son on Oct 14.
Police said they have detained Pornchanok Chaiyapa, 47, and her husband Somchai Kaewbangyang for questioning since Monday for possible links to Mr Tetsuo's disappearance.
Ms Pornchanok was previously arrested for allegedly using Mr Tetsuo's ATM card to withdraw more than 700,000 baht from his account after his disappearance.
She was released on 100,000-baht bail and apparently fled her home in Bangkok. Police rearrested her while she was riding in a taxi driven by her husband in Ang Thong province, said Pol Lt Gen Ruangsak Jarit-ake, acting deputy national police chief.
Police believe the couple went to the province to get rid of the vehicle, he said.
Mr Tetsuo, a 79-year-old retired language teacher, went missing from his apartment at Sriwara Mansion 2 in Din Daeng district sometime after Sept 21. His disappearance was reported by his son, Shimato Tetsuo, to Huai Khwang police.
Although police have no evidence to link Ms Pornchanok and Mr Somchai to Mr Tetsuo’s disappearance, Ms Pornchanok is the last known person to have seen Mr Tetsuo, police said.
Ms Pornchanok told investigators she had accompanied Mr Tetsuo to a doctor’s appointment at a hospital in Bang Na on Sept 21. She said she left him to go back to his apartment that day. Mr Tetsuo was not seen after that.
Ms Pornchanok and Mr Somchai, who is a taxi driver, disappeared from their house in Bang Na after she was released on bail on Friday.
Pol Col Tawatchai Mekprasertsuk, commander of Central Scientific Crime Detection Division, said investigators will examine Mr Somchai's taxi to collect forensic evidence.