Police rule out kidnapping for ransom of missing Chinese woman
Police on Sunday ruled out kidnapping for ransom as a motive for murder of a missing Chinese woman whose decomposed body was believed to have been found in Chachoengsao on Saturday.
Pol Maj Gen Noppasilp Poonsawat, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said police were awaiting DNA test results to confirm whether the body belonged to the missing Yan Ruimin, 39.
Earlier Yan’s friend filed a complaint with the Bang Rak police station that she disappeared after the last contact by phone was made on June 30. The friend said Yan told her she would travel to Phuket on July 2 but she could not contact her since the last call.
Noppasilp said that earlier police suspected that the woman might be a victim of kidnapping for ransom because of a misunderstanding by the friend.
He said the friend contacted Yan’s family in China and told them she might have been kidnapped and advised the family to prepare money for paying her ransom.
Noppasilp said police now focused on two theories – she might be killed out of jealousy or might have been killed in a robbery.
Noppasilp said police are now gathering evidence to seek an arrest warrant against a suspect who was seen on security footage walking with her the night before she disappeared.
Police would also seek an Interpol arrest warrant against the suspect, identified as Ma Qingyan, a Chinese national who picked up Yan from Sukhumvit Soi 16 in Bangkok, the last known location of the two before she disappeared on July 1.
Yan travelled from Malaysia to Thailand alone on June 26, while Ma travelled from Singapore to Thailand on June 30.
On June 28-29, Yan stayed in Pattaya. She travelled to Bangkok on June 30 and stayed at a hotel before moving to a friend's house in the Rama 9 area. On July 1, she took a Grab taxi to Sukhumvit Soi 12, Ma picked her up, and they stayed together in Sukhumvit Soi 16.
Noppasilp said footage from security cameras showed that Yan was not forced by Ma to enter the vehicle. The two helped each other carry luggage into the Grab taxi and they were seen walking hand in hand to shop at a market like persons very familiar with each other.
