Kandal province police Sunday were seeking the public’s help in identifying the remains of a homicide victim found stuffed in a flaming suitcase.
The suitcase was found Friday morning outside Kdey Ta Ngoy village, Kien Svay district, according to district police Chief Maing Pich.
Authorities believe the man died in Phnom Penh and was stuffed in the suitcase, which was then driven to Kandal province, where it was doused with gasoline and set on fire, Maing Pich said.
Police are hoping someone will come forward to help them find out who the dead man was, Maing Pich said.
“We have not seen the victim’s family come to identify him. That’s why we’re still in the dark,” he said.
The flames were so intense it burned off the man’s tongue and fingerprints, leaving only a little muscle and skeletal tissue, Kandal province Deputy Police Chief Tom Vai said.
Authorities have been unable to determine the cause of death, Tom Vai said. Identification is the key to the case and the first priority, the deputy chief said. “It will be hard to find the offender if we cannot identify the victim,” Tom Vai said.
Around 2:30 Friday, Kdey Ta Ngoy village residents saw a car pull up near a vacant lot, Maing Pich said.
They later saw smoke wafting from the lot. In the morning, neighbors went to investigate and found the smoldering luggage. Opening the suitcase, they found the man’s body.
Authorities assume the man had been killed in Phnom Penh and taken to the lot to “get rid of the evidence,” Maing Pich said. Kien Svay district borders Phnom Penh along the Mekong river.
Because authorities have not yet identified the crime scene, police believe the dead man’s assailant or assailants killed him in a Phnom Penh hotel and then drove to Kandal province to dispose of his body.
