Preah Sihanouk provincial police on Tuesday found the body of a South African scuba-diving business owner who drowned in waters off Koh Rong island.
Kol Phallin, deputy police chief in Preah Sihanouk, yesterday announced the death of Rowland Darryl Holmes, 57, who owned and worked as an instructor at Freedom Dive Center, a diving destination that includes guest bungalows.
The department ruled out foul play in the death, Phallin said yesterday, asserting the fact that Holmes was intoxicated while swimming most likely contributed to his drowning.
“After a technical official examined his body, it was determined that he was drunk when he went swimming,” Phallin said. “There’s no suspicion of murder.”
Holmes’s body was taken to Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh by representatives of the United States Embassy.
In a death notice on the website for Independent Newspapers – a South African newspaper group – Holmes’s children say goodbye.
“May you be in peace! We love you! You will never be forgotten,” says the notice, published in South African newspaper the Cape Times on Tuesday.
