The remains of a German real estate tycoon who has been missing since July 4 have been found inside a freezer of a rental home in the Thai city of Pattaya, according to local authorities. Hans Peter Mack, 62, had been reported missing by his wife, 24-year-old Thai national Piraya Boonmak, a day after his disappearance.
According to local reports, Boonmak had grown concerned after her husband failed to return to their home in Pattaya after a scheduled meeting with a foreign property broker. The missing person’s case took a grim turn on Sunday, when local authorities reportedly found Mack’s car, a silver Mercedes-Benz E350 coupe, abandoned in the parking lot of a condo. According to local police, the interior of the car appeared to have been scrubbed with a bleaching cleaner. “There was intention to destroy evidence and the case indicates that Mr Hans Peter Ralter Mack’s disappearance was suspicious,” a police spokesperson quoted by The Bangkok Post said.
A local food vendor had reportedly told police that the car had been parked there for “a few days,” and they had seen two women exit from the vehicle at one point. Police later revealed that they suspected Mack had been abducted for extortion after linking several suspicious financial transactions to his disappearance, according to local reports.
“The case concerns assets. The offender seemed to know that Mr. Mack had assets. Detectives must find out if he knew Mr. Mack personally,” Thailand’s deputy national police chief said. Three foreign nationals have reportedly been questioned in connection with the case. According to Pattaya News, Mack’s dismembered body had been discovered in a “large freezer” of a rental home around midnight local time on July 11.
The discovery came after police reviewed CCTV footage around the area that showed a black pickup truck transporting the freezer in the direction of the rental home. A neighbor told the outlet that the home had been occupied by a German national who knew Mack. Prior to his disappearance, Mack had been spotted on security footage leaving a local restaurant toward Jomtien beach—his last known sighting. “Whoever took my husband, just tell me what you want, but please give me back my husband,” Mack’s wife said in a televised statement alongside his two sons—just hours before the gruesome discovery of his remains were reported. “Everyone is worried and we are waiting to find him. The family hopes he is still alive and in Thailand. Everyone will help to bring him home.” The family had offered upwards of $84,000 for leads on the disappearance of the real estate tycoon.
