PATTAYA: Police have found a Mercedes-Benz coupe with traces of bathroom cleaner after its owner, a 62-year-old German property broker, went missing on July 4.
The silver Mercedes-Benz E350 coupe registered in Bangkok was found at the parking lot of CC Condominium on Khao Noi Road in tambon Nong Prue of Bang Lamung district on Sunday morning. It belonged to Hans-Peter Mack who has lived with his 24-year-old Thai wife for five years.
Pol Maj Gen Theerachai Chamnanmor, investigative chief of the Provincial Police Region 2, said on Sunday the discovery dimmed hopes for Mr Mack's safe return because there were traces of either coolant or bathroom cleaner fluid on the seats, dashboard, steering wheel, gearbox and other interior parts of the car. The apparently "cleaned" parts showed solvent stains.
"There was intention to destroy evidence and the case indicates that Mr Hans-Peter Ralter Mack's disappearance was suspicious," Pol Maj Gen Theerachai said.
A local food vendor said the car was parked there a few days ago and two women got out. One of them had dark skin and was about 160 centimetres tall.
A 54-year-old German woman, a property broker, told police she met Mr Mack on July 4 to discuss potential sales worth hundreds of millions of baht of a pool villa on Koh Samui and a boxing stadium in Bang Lamung district. After the talk, they separated.
The German man's family has offered a 3-million-baht reward for information that could help locate him.
Mr Mack's Thai wife, Piraya Boonmak, said he drove from their Swiss Paradise housing estate in Pattaya to meet a foreign property broker he had recently met. The family filed a disappearance complaint with local police on July 5.
The German man had two sons. One of them was in the country and the other was in Spain, she said.
Surveillance camera footage showed the German man went to a restaurant on Thung Klom-Tan Man Road at 11.54am on July 4 and left the place at 12.37pm on the same day.
He drove past Chaiyaphruek intersection towards Jomtien beach – the last known image of his whereabouts.
White stains are seen on the interior of the Mercedes-Benz coupe. Police suspect they resulted from cleaner fluid possibly used to destroy evidence. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)