Police in Kampot province trawled the Kampong Bay estuary yesterday in an attempt to find the bicycle of a French tourist found murdered on Sunday in the quiet resort town.

While the search ultimately proved fruitless, officials said they now have a lead in their investigation but refused to elaborate, with Kampot deputy police commissioner In Chiva saying only that authorities had found “some clue of the crime”.

The naked body of Ophélie Begnis, 25, was discovered floating in the estuary, better known as the Kampot river, on Sunday with injuries to her head and arm.

She had travelled to Kampot with two friends, and was last seen bicycling out of the Les Manguiers resort on Saturday afternoon.

An official familiar with the preliminary examination of the body believes Begnis was raped before being murdered, though neither the French Embassy nor the Ministry of Interior, which is leading the investigation, have released results from the post-mortem tests.

Chiva said that a meeting is taking place today in Kampot with Mok Chito, the director of the Central Justice Department of the Ministry of Interior, who is keeping tabs on the progress of the case.

A spokesman for the French embassy said he had no updates to provide on the investigation.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Sarom at [email protected]