TRAT, THAILAND – A 76-year-old woman living alone was found dead in her home in Laem Ngop district, with valuable gold jewelry missing and a suspected neighbor on the run.
Daughter’s unanswered call led to grim discovery
The incident began on Thursday, 11 December, when the woman’s daughter, who worked in Bangkok, could not reach her mother during their usual afternoon phone call. After repeated attempts failed, she asked relatives living nearby to check the house in Laem Ngop.
Around 1 p.m., family members found the front door unlocked and discovered the 76-year-old lying motionless on the floor, initially on her stomach. Emergency services and police were called to the scene.
Autopsy and scene pointed to violent death
Officers and rescue workers carefully turned the woman onto her back, and an autopsy later revealed red pressure marks and bruising on her neck and face. Traces on the floor indicated a serious crime, and investigators concluded she had likely died due to external violent force.
“We assume that the perpetrator used deadly force in order to obtain the jewelry.”
said a police spokesman.
Gold worth 120,000 baht missing
Relatives told officers that the victim always wore a gold necklace and a gold bracelet worth more than 120,000 baht (about 3,000 euros). Both items were missing from the house, leading police to identify a clear robbery motive.
Investigators believed the perpetrator targeted the valuable pieces and apparently accepted the woman’s death as a consequence. The woman had lived alone since her daughter moved to Bangkok for work, a circumstance the suspect may have known.
Neighbor identified as suspect, wife questioned
Residents in the area directed suspicion toward a man identified only as “B”, who was reportedly acquainted with the victim and had regularly borrowed money from her. Shortly after the pensioner’s death, he disappeared from the community without a trace.
In response, police detained his wife for questioning to obtain information about his whereabouts and his movements around the time of the crime. The search for the suspected perpetrator continued across the region, with officers reviewing surveillance camera footage.
Earlier fatal robbery case cited by investigators
Investigators recalled a similar case from May in Nakhon Si Thammarat, where a motorcycle taxi driver killed an 89-year-old regular customer. In that case, the suspect stole valuables worth 260,000 baht, despite having known the victim for more than six years.
Such crimes repeatedly shocked the Thai public and raised concerns about the protection of elderly people living alone. For the grieving daughter in Bangkok, a daily phone call ended with the worst possible news as the investigation into her mother’s killing continued, with no further details yet released on potential charges.