Seven corpses found in Thailand, possibly one American Wed Mar 29

April 1st, 2006 by admin

Seven corpses found in Thailand, possibly one American Wed Mar 29, 11:48 PM ET

BANGKOK (AFP) - Seven badly decomposed bodies have been found in a ravine in northern Thailand, police have announced, adding that one of them could be that of a missing Hmong American.

The seven bodies were bound, placed in rice bags, and dumped into a 100-meter (330-foot) ravine alongside a highway leading from the northern city of Chiang Mai, police Colonel Thanes Chaonathung told AFP.

Pathologists so far have only been able to identify the corpses as three women and four men who died more than 20 days ago, Thanes said.

The bodies were being taken to the provincial hospital in Chiang Mai for identification.

“Police suspect that they may be from the family of a US Hmong who disappeared from their house in San Sai district in Chiang Mai on March 10, but we have to wait for forensic examinations,” Thanes said.

A spokesperson at the US embassy said one report had been received of a missing Hmong American in northern Thailand.

“There is indeed one Hmong American missing, but we don’t know that he’s in this group because the bodies haven’t been identified,” the spokesperson said.