A body has been found in the search for Woramet Ben Taota, a teenager with British nationality who went missing in Thailand on 6 May after he went for a motorcycle ride with his girlfriend and neither of them were seen again.
The 16-year-old boy had gone for a ride in Lampang province with his girlfriend but neither returned home afterwards.
Police said they received a report the next morning that the teenage boy had been found dead in a grove in the Ban Than district, with his head covered in blood after appearing to have been repeatedly hit with a blunt object.
Officers found a smartphone charger and wallet in his bag but no phone or money, suggesting that he might have been robbed.
Officials believe the 16-year-old, known as Ben to his friends and a dual national, was killed somewhere else and had his body dumped in the woods where it was later found as there were no signs of a struggle in that location.
Ben's girlfriend, a 16-year-old named Yam, is still missing and search efforts are still underway to find her.
Police Colonel Sittisak Singtongla, superintendent of the Mae Tha police gave a statement on the situation, saying: "The station received a notification at 10.15am that a deceased person was found in the undergrowth.
"The investigating team went to the area and found the victim with blood stains all over his face. The face and head were found to have been beaten with a hard object until swelling and bruising was caused.
"There was also a deep wound in his face. The body has been taken to hospital for an autopsy."
"We are currently tracking down individuals close to the victim, including his female companion. She is a key figure in this case since she is the last person to see him alive."
Police are not yet ruling any potential motive out of the killing of Taota, saying it was 'unclear whether it was a robbery' even though the 16-year-old's phone and cash were not found among his belongings.
Friends of the teenager have been leaving tributes on his social media profiles and paying their respects to the 16-year-old's memory.
A search for the missing girl is now a priority for the police as she Colonel Singtongla named her as a 'key figure in this case' as they believe she was the last person to see Ben alive.
LADbible has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment.
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