Family joins search for Briton in Cambodia
KOH RONG: The family of a 21-year-old British tourist, who went missing on a Cambodian island a week ago, boarded boats with authorities to continue a meticulous search around the waters and dense jungle territory.
The desperate search for backpacker Amelia Bambridge on Koh Rong included more than 100 army, navy and police personnel as well as relatives and volunteers.
Bambridge did not check out of her hostel on Oct 24, while her bag and phone were later found on party spot Police Beach, where she was last seen hours earlier.
Her family members scrambled to the island to help with the investigation and have also been active on social media asking travellers for possible clues.
Her brother Harry Bambridge posted a video on Instagram showing him sitting on a racing boat with Cambodian officials yesterday. “Still no Amelia,” he wrote. While her brother and father jumped on a speedboat, her mother joined a police canine team to search a jungle near the last sighting.
The mystery deepened after police held six men for questioning, but they were found not to be involved and released.
Koh Rong governor Noun Bunthol said the latest foray into the placid waters of the Gulf of Thailand was based on a tip from a fisherman.
“We took the family members to an area where a fisherman reported he saw a body floating, but we did not see anything,” Noun Bunthol said, adding that the search continued further north towards the Thai border.
Nak Phong, the fisherman who reported the tip and joined them on the search, said he had spotted a body in the waters on Oct 27 floating about 40km from the shore.