Journalist's remains believed discovered

Missing journalist Dave Walker (right) in Phnom Penh last year. RICHARD S. EHRLICH

Journalist's remains believed discovered

Phnom Penh Post | 1 May 2014

Police in Siem Reap believe they have found the body of Canadian journalist Dave Walker, who went missing on February 14 after leaving his guesthouse to let his room be cleaned, police said yesterday.

According to Major Pheng Pich, deputy chief of the provincial technical and scientific police unit, a body identified as that of Walker was found in the forest some 200 metres from the entrance to the ancient Angkor Thom temple complex, a popular tourist destination.

“This body was a man and was a foreigner, but so far our police have not examined his body yet,” Pich said.

“However, two men who are the person’s friends, and who came to directly view the body, have testified that he was their friend named Mr. Dave Walker, who disappeared since February 2014, because they remembered his clothes and trousers and his shoes.”

Pich said that there were no obvious signs of trauma to the body on initial examination.

“He was found dead by a group of children who went to pick fruit from trees in the forest near the gate of Angkor Thom temple yesterday evening,” he said. “According to the police’s checking and assessment, he was not murdered because there were no wounds on his body.”