The charred skeleton of what police believe are the remains of a 42-year-old Cambodian-Canadian man was discovered in a burned out car near the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng, police said Monday, adding they suspected foul play.
Om Sivithya, chief of Siem Reap foreigners police, said he found the body in the driver’s seat of a wrecked sedan off the side of Road 68A in Siem Reap province Saturday, after receiving a tip off from villagers. The car was about 30 km from Anlong Veng in Oddar Meanchey province.
Om Sivithya said evidence suggested the victim is Kong Sopha, 42, who came to Cambodia from Canada about seven months ago. He said the death was no accident.
“I suspect that his body was placed by someone in the driving seat” before the car was set alight, he said. “This was not a traffic accident. It was a murder.”
Residents of Trapaing Krasaing village in Varin district’s Srenoy commune, where the body was found, told police they heard two gunshots near the road around 2 am Saturday.
Om Sivithya said residents in Anlong Veng told him that Kong Sopha had been staying there for about one month and had wanted to start a business that would boost potato farming in the area.
The Canadian Embassy in Phnom Penh had not heard of the incident. Om Sivithya said police continue to investigate the case.
