Alan Scott Hogg, 64, and his wife Nod Suddaen, 61, were reported missing last Thursday (Sept 20).
When investigators went to their home in Phrae’s Muang district they noticed the couple’s white Ford pickup truck was also missing.
Phrae police chief Maj Gen Sanpat Prabpudsa said today that the truck was located and impounded in Ayutthaya yesterday (Sept 23) and returned to Phra Thai Chor Hae Police Station, near the couple’s home, today for forensic work. The vehicle is registered in the wife’s name.
The Phrae police chief said it turned out the truck had been bought from a Thai couple by a Lao man. The sellers and buyer agreed to meet in Sri Samrong district in Sukhothai to close the deal last Friday (Sept 21). The Lao man then drove it to Ayutthaya on a business trip, until learning from media reports that police were looking for the vehicle, Maj Gen Sanpat said.
The man turned the truck over to police in Ayutthaya yesterday. He and the two sellers were then taken to Phra That Chor Hae Police Station, where they were still being interrogated.
Further details of how the truck left the house and why it had changed hands were not disclosed.
Police were questioning the three people, hoping to find out what became of Mr Hogg and his wife.
The couple have lived in their big compound, comprising a two-storey house and a cattle-yard, for years. Police found blood stains on the floor around a sink in the house and more in a bathroom near the swimming pool. A mobile phone that was still being charged was also found at the scene.
All were collected as evidence.
Col Amorn Kwangpaen, an investigator of Phra Thai Chor Hae Police Station, said that last Thursday investigators also found a backhoe near a hole that had been dug and then filled in. The hole was re-excavated, but police did not find any signs of one or more body having been buried there.
A person whose name was not disclosed reported them missing last Thursday, telling police the couple had not been answering Line app messages or phone calls since last Tuesday (Sept 18), when they were supposed to meet in Chiang Mai.
Their daughter has since returned to the house from the United Kingdom, after being informed her parents are missing.
Maj Gen Sanpat said today that he could not confirm whether the couple were alive or dead. Police were sending sniffer dogs to the scene and tracking down contacts found listed in the charging phone, in the hope of shedding some light on the mystery, he added.
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