An Australian national has been formally charged with murder following the discovery of a 17-year-old girl’s body inside a suitcase in Thailand, according to local and Australian news outlets.
Authorities in the coastal city of Pattaya reported that the teenager’s body was found discarded near a railway track in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Thai police apprehended Simon Peter Carman at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, alleging that he was attempting to flee the country at the time of his arrest.
While Carman has denied the murder charges, he reportedly sent a message to the victim’s family following his detention, stating: “I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control.”
The victim, identified by local media as 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla, had been reported missing at 5:00 PM local time on Friday.
In a social media statement, Pattaya City Police noted that CCTV footage appeared to show Carman entering a condominium with the teenager before exiting the building alone while carrying a large suitcase.
The footage allegedly showed him loading the suitcase onto a motorcycle and driving toward the railway line.
Officers intercepted and arrested Carman at the airport, located approximately 150km north of Pattaya, at 1:15 AM on Saturday.
Police confirmed that the teenager’s body was discovered inside the suitcase roughly 15 minutes after the arrest.