Bodies in Cambodia may be Frenchman, family
- 12 years ago
Police in Cambodia are investigating how five bodies, thought to be those of a Frenchman and his four children, ended up in a car dumped in a pond behind the family home.
Forty-two-year-old Laurent Vallier and his children, aged 2 to 9, disappeared from their home near the capital Phnom Penh last year.
Relatives of Vallier's Cambodian wife, who died during childbirth, said they believe foul play was involved.
(SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 69-YEAR-OLD FATHER OF FRENCHMAN'S WIFE, TITH CHHUON, SAYING:
"The time at which they went missing and the evidence found in this car clearly make me believe that they are my grandchildren and my son-in-law because the skull of the father and skulls of his children are there like coconuts, so it is clearly them and they were killed by somebody, this is not a case of suicide."
Police said one skull had been found inside an open suitcase, having apparently floated into the luggage after the car was submerged.
The French embassy said in a statement that it had been informed of the discovery, but said it couldn't confirm that the bodies were those of Vallier and his children.
Travis Brecher, Reuters
Forty-two-year-old Laurent Vallier and his children, aged 2 to 9, disappeared from their home near the capital Phnom Penh last year.
Relatives of Vallier's Cambodian wife, who died during childbirth, said they believe foul play was involved.
(SOUNDBITE) (Khmer) 69-YEAR-OLD FATHER OF FRENCHMAN'S WIFE, TITH CHHUON, SAYING:
"The time at which they went missing and the evidence found in this car clearly make me believe that they are my grandchildren and my son-in-law because the skull of the father and skulls of his children are there like coconuts, so it is clearly them and they were killed by somebody, this is not a case of suicide."
Police said one skull had been found inside an open suitcase, having apparently floated into the luggage after the car was submerged.
The French embassy said in a statement that it had been informed of the discovery, but said it couldn't confirm that the bodies were those of Vallier and his children.
Travis Brecher, Reuters