Police in Takeo province have reopened their investigation into the kidnapping and disappearance five years ago of a 9-year-old boy—the son of a provincial tax department official, authorities said Sunday.
Takeo Governor Sou Phirin ordered the case of Teng Rithy Vong, who was kidnapped in August 2000, re-opened on May 3, Takeo provincial police Deputy Chief Suon Phon said Sunday.
Information from the original police investigation has been reviewed and police are 70 percent sure they know their “target”, Suon Phon said.
“The target is now in a very faraway province,” he said.
Teng Rithy Vong has not been seen by his family since he disappeared and kidnappers called demanding $10,000 ransom.
Pleas on behalf of the family resulted in the kidnappers dropping their ransom demand to $2,000 plus five damlung of gold.
The family was given just 10 minutes to deliver the ransom, but arriving an hour late, the kidnappers did not appear and Teng Rithy Vong was never seen again, his father Teng Thai, director of Takeo provincial tax department, said on Friday.
“I just want to know whether or not my son has died. If he has died, I want to get his bones back for a funeral,” Teng Thai said.
Teng Thai said he suspects his son’s case was not investigated fully because it involved the son of another senior Takeo provincial government official who was arrested for the kidnapping but released because of a lack of evidence.
“A 70-year-old man saw one boy grabbing my son, but the police and the court did not get the old man to testify. The court said he was too old. This is not justice,” he added.
Suon Phon admitted that police did not make such a “thorough investigation” of the case at the time because the military police were conducting their own investigation.
“The information about the young boy is not clear, although we have concluded that he is dead,” Suon Phon said.
