Kampot provincial police are searching for a murder suspect after a young woman was found dead in a pagoda pond on Saturday morning.

The victim, Uon Sopheak, 18, worked in a restaurant and was from Chumpovoan commune, according to Chumkiri District Police Chief Samrith Selavibol.

Deputy Provincial Police Chief Sao Sam Oeun said the victim’s body was found on Saturday morning by a villager who went to draw water at the Dey Krahorm village pagoda in Chhouk commune.

“In the first step of the [investigation of the] death of the girl, we suspected that it is a murder case . . . The victim’s neck was twisted,” Sam Oeun said.

“After thorough investigation, we have already identified a suspect,” he added, though that suspect had not yet been apprehended.

Officials estimated Sopheak was murdered between 1am and 4am on Saturday.

One monk residing at Dey Krahorm pagoda told The Post on the condition of anonymity that the night before the murder, he saw a man and a woman come into the temple area, but he did not pay much attention to them as people often came and went from the spiritual site.