An Australian man has been arrested at a Thai airport in connection with the alleged murder of a 17-year-old girl whose naked body was found in a suitcase, according to local police.
The man, 46, was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to travel on a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to local media.
Images show Thai immigration officers at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport taking the man into custody.
Police arrested the man after they investigated his alleged connection to the Thai teenager, whose body was found in a suitcase behind the Floating Market in Pattaya, on Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast, according to a statement released on social media by Pattaya city police.
The suspect, who denies involvement in the teenager’s alleged abduction and murder, was taken into custody after an interrogation, a police official in the resort city of Pattaya told Agence France-Presse.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailInvestigators were awaiting the results of a postmortem examination and “other evidence” in the case before filing charges, the official said.
The charges could include child abduction, murder, hiding a corpse and “abduction of a minor for sexual purposes”, added the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police allege CCTV footage showed the suspect entering an apartment in the seaside resort of Pattaya in the early hours of Thursday along with the 17-year-old Thai girl, according to reports.
He emerged from the building several hours later, the reports said, carrying a large black suitcase which he then transported on the back of a motorbike.
Police found the suitcase on Friday near a railway track, discovering the victim’s body inside it bearing signs of violence, local website the Pattaya News reported.
In the statement released on social media, police also confirmed that an Australian national was detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport while allegedly attempting to flee the country in connection with the case.
Pattaya 24 News shared CCTV footage of the girl holding hands with a man of caucasian appearance while waiting for an elevator shortly after 3.30am on Thursday. They also shared CCTV footage of the man taking a suitcase out of the building.
Pattaya city police station requested a watch notice to immigration officers at the airport to prevent the man leaving Thailand as they investigated his alleged connection to the teenager, the Nation Thailand reported.
Police questioned the suspect, who then gave information about where the suitcase had allegedly been discarded.
“After receiving the information, Immigration officers coordinated with investigators from Pattaya City Police Station, who rushed to inspect the location. Officers later found the body of [the teenage girl] based on the information provided during questioning,” the local outlet stated.
Police arrested the man on charges related to murder and concealment of a body, according to the Nation.
A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the department “is providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Thailand”.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
