Bottom: Cambodian police examine a car as they try to retrieve the vehicle from a pond in Kampong Speu province (AFP)PHNOM PENH | Sun Jan 15, 2012
(Reuters) - Police in Cambodia were on Sunday investigating how five bodies, thought to be those of a Frenchman and his four children who went missing last year, ended up in a car dumped in a pond behind the French family's home.
Laurent Vallier, 42, and his children aged 2 to 9 disappeared from their home in Kompong Speu province near the capital, Phnom Penh, in September and the French Embassy said it had alerted authorities in November that they were missing.
The embassy said in a statement it had been informed of the discovery of the remains but that, "because of the state of the corpses, it is impossible to confirm that these are the bodies of Monsieur Vallier and his children."
Police said one skull had been found inside an open suitcase, having apparently floated in there after the car was submerged.
Relatives of Vallier's Cambodian wife, who died during childbirth, held a religious ceremony for the dead on Sunday.
Neighbors were shocked to learn of the grim discovery.
"We just saw him taking his children to school every day and then they just disappeared," said Chuob Srey, 43. "We thought they'd gone on holiday."
Police would not comment further because of the preliminary stage of the inquiry. "We don't know whether this was a robbery or a murder. Just let our expert team work on it," said district Police Chief Touch Heang.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Sanjeev Miglani)
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Cambodia probes bodies in Frenchman's car
AFP
Sun Jan 15 2012 (Arabian Standard Time) Oman Time
Cambodia: Cambodian police were on Sunday investigating the deaths of five people -- presumed to be a missing Frenchman and his four children -- whose skeletal remains were found in a submerged car.
The white 4x4 vehicle owned by widower Laurent Vallier, 42, was retrieved from a pond behind his house in southern Kampong Speu province on Saturday. The family was last seen in September.
"We're still investigating the case. We can't confirm the cause of death," said provincial police chief Keo Pisey.
An AFP reporter who visited the site saw at least four human skulls laid out on a white sheet next to the muddied vehicle, as well as an open suitcase.
Police officials and the French embassy in Phnom Penh said that it was impossible to immediately identify the victims because of the badly decomposed state of their bodies.
But Chhay Sinarith, director of the interior ministry's internal security department, said they were presumed to be Vallier and his children, aged two to 11, since four of the skulls appeared to be relatively small.
"We are still waiting for the results from the experts," he said.
"Now we are appealing for witnesses who may recognise the clothes and the shoes we found in the car. It's most likely the remains belong to the missing French family."
Chhay Sinarith initially said the bones of two children were found inside a suitcase, but a police officer close to the investigation told AFP that the case was broken and the bones might have drifted in there over time, as the car is thought to have lain submerged for weeks.
Among the dozens of onlookers gathered behind the police tape at the ghoulish scene was Sar Savi, 42, the mother of Vallier's Cambodian wife, who died in childbirth in 2009. "I am in shock," she said.
Vallier's father-in-law Tith Chhuon, 69, said he believed the Frenchman and the children were murdered. "He would not commit suicide. I know his heart," he said.
Vallier, who according to his relatives worked as a tour guide, is thought to have moved from France to Cambodia around 12 years ago, arriving in Kampong Speu in 2007.
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Cambodia police find 5 bodies in Frenchman's car
(AFP) – 1 day ago
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian police on Saturday found five bodies, two of them stuffed in a suitcase, in a car belonging to a Frenchman who had been missing for months with his four children, officials said.
The gruesome discovery was made after the white 4x4 vehicle owned by widower Laurent Vallier, 42, was retrieved from a pond on his property in the southern province of Kampong Speu, said Chhay Sinarith, director of the interior ministry's internal security department.
"After removing the car from the pond, we found the remains of five people. We conclude that they are those of the missing French family," he told AFP.
"The bones of two kids were put in a suitcase that was also in the car," he said, adding that police were still investigating the cause of death for all five victims.
A source at the French embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP he could only confirm that "the remains of five people", in a badly decomposed state, had been found in Vallier's car, which is thought to have lain submerged for weeks.
The embassy official stressed that none of the victims had been officially identified and that an investigation was still ongoing.
Vallier and his two sons and two daughters, aged two to nine, had been missing since September. Vallier's Cambodian wife died in childbirth in 2009.
According to local media, Vallier worked as a tour guide.
Vallier's parents in France first raised the alarm about his disappearance in November, when they informed the French embassy they hadn't heard from him since September.
Local police paid a visit to Vallier's house in early January where they found photographs of the French citizen and his children, which they distributed nationwide to widen the search for the family.
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