Pickup truck found but Brit, Thai wife still missing

The white pickup truck of Alan Scott Hogg and his Thai wife, Nod Suddaen, at Phra That Chor Hae police station in Muang district in Phrae on Monday. (Photo by Taweesak Sukkasem)

PHRAE: Police have found the pickup truck owned by a British man and his Thai wife missing since last week, but the couple's fate remained unknown on Monday.

Alan Scott Hogg, 64, and his wife Nod Suddaen, 61, were reported missing on Thursday. Mr Hogg was initially identified by police as an Australian, but they have now corrected his nationality.

When investigators went to their home in Phrae's Muang district they noticed the couple's white Ford pickup truck was also missing.

Phrae police chief Pol Maj Gen Sanpat Prabpudsa said on Monday the truck was located and impounded in Ayutthaya on Sunday and returned to Phra That Chor Hae police station, near the couple's home, on Monday for forensic work. The vehicle is registered in the wife's name.

The Phrae police chief said it turned out the truck had been bought from a Thai couple by a Lao man. The sellers and buyer agreed to meet in Sri Samrong district in Sukhothai to close the deal on Friday. The Lao man then drove it to Ayutthaya on a business trip, until learning from media reports that police were looking for the vehicle, Pol Maj Gen Sanpat said.

The man turned the truck over to police in Ayutthaya on Sunday. He and the two sellers were then taken to Phra That Chor Hae police station, where they were still being interrogated. (continues below)

An old photo of Alan Hogg and his Thai wife, Nod Suddean, seen at their house in Phrae. (Photo by Taweesak Sukkasem)

Further details of how the truck left the house and why it had changed hands were not disclosed. Police were questioning the three people, hoping to find out became of Mr Hogg and his wife.

On Sunday Region 5 chief Pol Lt-Gen Poonsak Prasertsak desribed the case as an incident within the family but refused to be drawn on the fate of the couple.

He said that evidence was still being gathered, but two or three people known to police would be served with warrants.

According to a Daily News report, Ms Nod's brother Warun Watanasatjakit, 63, has been charged with theft of the couple's vehicle, then freed on bail of 100,000 baht posted by relatives and had returned to his house in Soong district.

The couple have lived in their big compound, comprising a two-story house and a cattle yard, for years. Police found blood stains on the floor around a sink in the house and more in a washroom near the swimming pool. A mobile phone that was still being charged was also found at the scene.

All were collected as evidence.

Pol Col Amorn Kwangpaen, an investigator of Phra Thai Chor Hae police station, said that on Thursday investigators also found a backhoe near a hole that had been dug and then filled in. The hole was re-excavated, but police did not find any signs of one or more body having been buried there. (continues below)

Forensic police search the missing couple's house on Thursday. (Photo by Taweesak Sukkasem)

A person whose name was not disclosed reported them mssing on Thursday, telling police the couple had not been answering Line app messages or phone calls since Tuesday, when they were supposed to meet in Chiang Mai.

Their daughter has since returned to the house from the United Kingdom, after being informed her parents are missing.

Pol Maj Gen Sanpat said on Monday he could not confirm whether the couple was alive or dead. Police were sending sniffer dogs to the scene and tracking down contacts found listed in the charging phone, in the hope of shedding some light on the mystery, he added.