Police in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district are continuing to search for a suspect after the April 28 discovery of a dead man in a mangrove forest in Ong village of the district’s Ream commune.
District police chief Ong Vuthy said on May 1 that the district police – in collaboration with provincial criminal police forces – are searching for a perpetrator, after noting the man’s wounds.
“The victim had suffered injuries and abrasions that prompted us to conclude that it could be a murder case. Besides that, we could not identify him because the body was badly decomposed,” he added.
He said the victim may have been killed more than 10 days ago and was found floating face-down in a mangrove forest next to the construction site of a gated community, known locally as borey. Police determined that the location where the victim died had no strong water currents despite heavy rain or flooding, because there were stones and established trees around the body.
He added that the victim was a Cambodian, over 30 years old and had long hair and a moustache. He was about 1.70m tall and wore jeans, but no shirt or underwear. Forensic police said although they suspected that the man may have suffered from mental illness, they still believed it was a murder case.
Commune police chief Sok Sinat said on May 1 that shortly after the body was found, the police inquired if any local villagers were missing family members, but no one was listed as missing. Because he was found close to a construction site, they invited the workers to see the body, but they could not identify him.
With no relatives to inform, the man was cremated at Samathi Pagoda in Smach Daeng. The monks will keep the ashes, in case the man’s family should be located.
