Police have today found the dead body of the missing girlfriend of a British teenager who was murdered in northern Thailand - with the alleged killer facing the death penalty over the double murder.
Officers discovered Suraphltchaya Khamsa, 16, buried in a shallow grave in woodland around three miles from where Woramet Ben Taota, 16, was discovered on May 7.
Her parents and grandparents identified her body at the scene from the braces on her teeth and the jewelry she had been wearing.
They broke down in tears when it emerged that their daughter had been murdered.
Police are now continuing to interrogate sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, who allegedly admitted killing Ben but denies murdering Suraphltchaya, whose nickname was Ping Pong. He is likely to face the death penalty if convicted of either or both cases.
Police Major General Mongkol Sampawapol, commander of Lampang Provincial Police, said: 'Police received intelligence gathered from the search operation about the location of the body.
"The suspect who admitted to killing the boy denies killing the girl. He says that somebody else attacked her and buried her body in the woods.
"We suspect that the suspect is responsible for both murders. However, police will also continue investigating the deaths to check if anybody else was involved.
"The female victim's body is now being sent to hospital for an autopsy to find traces of rape or sexual assault, because the suspect has a history of these crimes.
"There were signs of bruising on her face and it is expected that she was hit with a solid object until she died.'
Suraphltchaya and Ben were last seen together riding a motorcycle on Saturday evening, May 6, after visiting her grandfather earlier in the afternoon.
Ben was found dead the next morning with severe head wounds. His body had been dumped in woodland but had not been buried.
His phone and cash from his wallet were missing.
A police search for his girlfriend Yam, 16, followed by the second girl he was seeing, Suraphltchaya, followed as investigators battled to piece together the case.
Local Chaiwat was later identified from CCTV riding a black Honda motorcycle around the area at the time of the death. He later tried to hide the vehicle in a friend's shed before changing to a new bike.
Chaiwat admitted to killing Ben. He said his motive was revenge for a drug deal in which the youngster had stolen tablets from him.
However, Chaiwat continually refused to give any details about the disappearance of Ben's girlfriend, who is believed to have been with him when he died.
Earlier this week, Ben's devastated father Steven Graham, 60, confronted the alleged killer during a chaotic crime reconstruction on Wednesday.
He yelled "look me in the eye, you cowards" and "may you rot in hell" at the alleged murderer while being taken on a "perp walk" or crime reconstruction, which will form evidence for the prosecution.
The businessman, who travelled from his home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, said: "It was dreadful to see [Boongarin], just ghastly. And the girl is still missing... she was the girl who was on the back of Ben's motorbike. And they went together to where this bloke was."
Steven said that the case "may not have been as straightforward as I was first told but there's possibly information that links her to what happened".
He added: "The suspect has admitted to killing Ben but he won't say anything about the girl. So either he has done something terrible to her or she had some sort of involvement and he is giving her time to get away."
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