NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Police are hoping that tattoos and microchips in silicone breast implants will help them identify a murdered Thai woman whose body was found buried two days ago with that of a foreign man.
Officers have also recovered some cartridges and bullets less than two metres from the grave where the bodies were found, said Pol Gen Suchart Teerasawat, the deputy national police chief, who visited the site in Chok Chai district on Saturday.
That suggested the pair had been slain at the scene and then buried, contrary to earlier speculation that they had been killed elsewhere first.
Forensic experts will examine the cartridges and bullets to determine the weapon used, which may provide clues to those involved. Pol Gen Suchart said he expected the case would become clearer within a week.
Preliminary forensic examination showed that the dead woman was a Thai and the dead man was a foreigner, he said. The man had been shot in the head three times while the woman was shot in the eye. They had been dead for between two and four weeks before the bodies were discovered on Thursday evening, he added.
The bodies were found by a mushroom collector who noticed a fresh pile of earth covered with branches at a community forest in tambon Thung Arun in Chok Chai district, about 500 metres off Highway 224.
Village head Thepbancha Saikrathok and other residents who went to investigate dug into the soil and uncovered part of a human body. At that point they called police.
Police and rescue workers dug deeper, uncovering the bodies of a man and a woman buried less than one metre down. The bodies were naked and covered with a layer of cement.
Pol Col Boonpot Prasertsak, superintendent of the Chok Chai police station, met with investigators on Friday evening to review the evidence and possible clues.
One team was assigned to examine closed-circuit cameras in areas near the grove and along routes to the site. Another team was examining evidence at the scene including the cement covering the bodies, in hopes of finding where it was bought.
Photos of the tattoos have been distributed via various channels in hopes that someone would recognise them and could assist with identification.
The woman had distinctive tattoos — a diamond-studded crown tattoo on her back, a flower tattoo on her right wrist, a Ganesha tattoo and a Japanese-style cat tattoo on her legs, said a police source.
Investigators were questioning people in local communities to find out is any families had a foreign son-in-law between 170 and 180cm tall who had gone missing.
Meanwhile, the brand name and microchips in the woman’s breast implants will allow investigators to determine where they came from. They plan to question cosmetic surgery clinics to help with the identification.
Pol Gen Suchart Teerasawat, the deputy national police chief, talks to reporters while visiting the site where the bodies were discovered in Chok Chai district of Nakhon Ratchasima on Saturday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)
The tattoo on the dead woman's back (Photo supplied/Prasit Tangprasert)
The flower tattoo on the woman's right wrist. (Photo supplied/Prasit Tangprasert)
The Ganesha tattoo on the woman's body. (Photo supplied/Prasit Tangprasert)