Body of missing backpacker found floating in sea off Cambodian coast
‘It all comes back to what happened at 3am. Maybe somebody put something in her drink’
THE body of a British student on a gap year in Cambodia has been found at sea more than 60 miles away from where she went missing.
Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, West Sussex, vanished from a beach party on the picturesque Koh Rong island in Sihanoukville Province at around 3am on Oct 24.
A few hours before she disappeared, she had called her sister Georgie to say that she was having the “best time ever” and everyone was “so cool”. Fishermen spotted her body floating in the Gulf of Thailand yesterday, 62 miles north-west of Police Beach, where she was last seen partying with friends.
Deputy navy commander Tea Sokha told local media that Amelia’s distinctive tattoos and the clothes she was wearing led them to conclude it was her. A formal identification is expected to take place today.
Last night Koh Rong island fell silent as a mark of respect to her family, who had flown out to help with the search.
Among the heartbreaking tributes was a message from her brother Harry on social media: “There’s nothing more I wanted than to bring her back alive. I’m sorry Amelia – the round is on me when we meet again in heaven.”
Her sister Sharon added: “It breaks my heart to let all my close family and friends know the horrendous outcome that we didn’t want. Now we have to get our Amelia back home to England so we can lay her beautiful soul to rest and to remember the wonderful life she lived.”
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton said he was “devastated” to hear the “terribly sad news” and that “the thoughts and prayers of everyone in Worthing are with her family and friends”.
Amelia had been staying in the Nest Beach Club hostel, a 40-minute walk from the beach, and had planned to leave the island on Oct 25. It was her first solo trip abroad. But she never returned to the hostel, and a purple rucksack containing her purse, phone and bank cards was found on rocks on the shore of Police Beach.
Yorng Seng, of Koh Rong island’s military police, said that her body was found at 4pm floating close to the sea border with Thailand.
A post-mortem examination will be carried out in Sihanoukville on the Cambodian mainland. Chuon Narin, police chief of Preah Sihanouk province, said early indications suggested she had drowned.
Larry Risser, the CEO of Apex-fire, a search-and-rescue company based in Thailand, told The Daily Telegraph that water currents and weather conditions mean Amelia’s body could have naturally drifted so far from the shore.
He suggested her drink could have been spiked, referring to the prevalence of local drugs that could cause hallucinations and disorientation.
“It all comes back to what happened at 3am,” he said. “Maybe somebody put something in her drink.”
Six Cambodian men working on the island were previously questioned by police in relation to her disappearance and released without charge.
Relatives flew out to help look for her alongside 147 police officers, soldiers and divers. A specialist searchand-rescue dog unit and a drone were also brought in to scour the jungle and coastline for any trace of the student.
The family raised more than £16,000 to help with the search. A petition set up on their behalf previously criticised the Foreign Office for leaving the family to “run the entire operation”.
The Foreign Office said they continue to support Amelia’s family.