Human remains found off Koh Tao

Search continues for missing Russian diver

SURAT THANI: Human tissue and bone samples have been collected underwater and sent for forensic tests in Bangkok as the search continues for the missing Russian tourist who was on a diving expedition off Koh Tao.

Other evidence was also retrieved by a search team of divers, including a pair of dive goggles, a goggle strap and a green vest. They were the first lot of items found which might be linked to Valentina Novozhyonova, who been missing since Feb 16.

The evidence was flown to Bangkok for forensic examination at the Police General Hospital yesterday.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, chief of Surat Thani police, said three bone pieces were obtained. One of the larger bones was likely to be from the pelvis.

Nine divers joined the search party scouring the seabed stretching a kilometre from Chalok Bankao Bay to the View Point resort cape, according to Pol Lt Col Napa Senathip, a deputy chief of Koh Tao police.

The deepest search areas, which cover a number of dive sites, were between 15-20 metres although the spot where the evidence was located was about four to five metres deep and about 400 metres from shore.

Pol Lt Col Napa said the evidence was packed in a box and taken by helicopter from the island to Surat Thani airport from where they were flown to Bangkok aboard a commercial flight.

Forensic specialists will need about a week to confirm whether they match DNA samples collected from the Koh Tao Hostel where Ms Novozhyonova stayed in the Chalok Bankao area. The items found yesterday are the best lead yet as to what became of the missing Russian tourist, according to police.

The search for the 23-year-old Russian tourist started after she failed to check out of the hostel on the popular island. She has not been heard from since.

Ms Novozhyonova checked into the resort on Feb 11. The hostel’s owner asked police to help find her on Feb 24, because she had not checked out as scheduled on Feb 16 and had not been seen.

The hostel management said they did not alert police sooner as they assumed she had travelled on elsewhere without bothering to check out.

Investigators believe Ms Novozhyonova drowned while free diving in waters off the island in the Koh Phangan district.

Yesterday, Pol Lt Col Chokechai Suthimek, chief of Koh Tao police, said the search was still on with an additional team of divers being launched to help locate any other evidence in Chalok Bankao Bay as the search area has been narrowed.

He said the investigators could not conclusively say Ms Novozhyonova is dead or that she had died during a free-diving trip pending the results of the forensic test.

Police have not ruled out other possibilities, including murder, as the cause of the woman’s disappearance, Pol Lt Col Chokechai said.

He added the investigators have also continued to interview local residents who might have seen or come into contact with Ms Novozhyonova.