Cambodia probes bodies in Frenchman's car

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KAMPONG SPEU, Cambodia (AFP) - Cambodian police were on Sunday investigating the deaths of five people -- presumed to be a missing Frenchman and his four children -- whose skeletal remains were found in a submerged car.
The white 4x4 vehicle owned by widower Laurent Vallier, 42, was retrieved from a pond behind his house in southern Kampong Speu province on Saturday. The family was last seen in September.
"We're still investigating the case. We can't confirm the cause of death," said provincial police chief Keo Pisey.
An AFP reporter who visited the site saw at least four human skulls laid out on a white sheet next to the muddied vehicle, as well as an open suitcase.
Police officials and the French embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP that it was impossible to immediately identify the victims because of the badly decomposed state of their bodies.
But Chhay Sinarith, director of the interior ministry's internal security department, said they were presumed to be Vallier and his children, aged two to 11, since four of the skulls appeared to be relatively small.
"We are still waiting for the results from the experts," he said.
"Now we are appealing for witnesses who may recognise the clothes and the shoes we found in the car. It's most likely the remains belong to the missing French family."
Chhay Sinarith initially said the bones of two children were found inside a suitcase, but a police officer close to the investigation told AFP that the case was broken and the bones might have drifted in there over time, as the car is thought to have lain submerged for weeks.
Among the dozens of onlookers gathered behind the police tape at the ghoulish scene was Sar Savi, 42, the mother of Vallier's Cambodian wife, who died in childbirth in 2009. "I am in shock," she said.
Vallier's father-in-law Tith Chhuon, 69, said he believed the Frenchman and the children were murdered. "He would not commit suicide. I know his heart," he said.
Vallier, who according to his relatives worked as a tour guide, is thought to have moved from France to Cambodia around 12 years ago, arriving in Kampong Speu in 2007.

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