Thai police seek ID on dismembered body found in freezer

By The Associated Press

BANGKOK – Thai police are attempting to identify a dismembered body found in a freezer when they raided an apartment and arrested three men — two thought to be American and one British — suspected of trafficking in forged passports.

Forensic experts will conduct a digital autopsy using a CT scan and extract DNA material from the corpse found in the raid Friday in an effort to identify it, police spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen said Monday.

Bits of human tissue and teeth are the only things left that can be used to identify the body, chopped up into six pieces and frozen for months, said Dr. Triyarith Temahivong, deputy director general of Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science.

“The body still has human tissue stuck on it, which DNA can be extracted from,” he said. “The teeth can be used as well for identification through dental records, but the person’s nationality, age or gender can’t be determined at all at this time so we’ll see from the digital autopsy.”

Police have contacted the U.S. FBI and Interpol for assistance.

Krisana said police are also uncertain of the identities of the three suspects because they had multiple passports that could be fake or altered. They were arrested on charges of resisting arrest, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, forging official documents and concealing a corpse.

“We’re trying to figure out the nationalities of the suspects with the embassies now, we simply know that they’re all foreign nationals,” Krisana said.

The suspect thought to be British shot and wounded a policeman during the raid and then was wounded himself.

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