Found Deceased Cambodia - Amelia Bambridge, 21, UK backpacker, Koh Rong, 23 Oct 2019

[TexLil]

So very sad to hear the news this morning. In my mind it appears this could have been a crime or possibly an accident? Either way, she is gone way too soon with many dreams left undone. Sad. MOO.

 

[Ben_Bowler98]

Her brother has just confirmed on Facebook he has seen her and it is Amelia... he’s posted a lovely heartfelt tribute. So very sad.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Her brother has just confirmed on Facebook he has seen her and it is her... he’s posted a lovely heartfelt tribute. I am also disgusted by the amount of Asian news sources actually posting pictures of the body on Facebook... absolutely disgusting.

It made me cry but I'm so glad they're there - mum, dad and brother Harry all travelled to Cambodia I believe. Thoughts also with Amelia's sister who remained in the UK to orchestrate things this end.

Gets me so bad when someone disappears on holiday. Amelia should be out there living life, not returning home in a coffin.

 

[Ben_Bowler98]

Gets me so bad when someone disappears on holiday. Amelia should be out there living life, not returning home in a coffin.

I am exactly the same, the cases that get to me the most on here are those where a lone female who should be living her dream of travelling and having fun returns home in a coffin. It was the same with the Grace Millane case which I mentioned earlier on in the thread, they’re very hard to follow so I can’t begin to imagine what the family are going through.

 

[otto]

Have there been any pictures of where " 30 miles off the Cambodian coast" actually is?

Having this information would help us to know if she drowned and tides took her to that location or whether she was abducted and taken by boat to that location.

The body must have been somewhere in this area between the land and the Island.

High tide in areas near the Police Beach was between 4 and 5AM. I couldn't find any information about riptides at Police Beach, and we still need water current charts.

 

[Cryptic]

I just found it odd her clothes wernt left with her bag if she did take a drunken dip

I agree, the swimming with full clothing scenario seems strange.

Does anybody know if the area is known for dangerous rip currents? Perhaps the victim only intended to wade into the water, and was then caught by a rip current? Factor in intoxication and the possibility that she was not a strong swimmer and things can go downhill fast.

 

[otto]

If she was a bit out of it and she got into the shallow water to, for example, float on her back while the tide was going out, she would not notice that she was moving farther away from the shore. She would notice at some point that the tide had moved her quite a distance. If she was not a strong swimmer, or she tried to swim against the tide into the shore, she would have become exhausted and drowned.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I still think going for a swim on your own in the middle of the night would be a strange thing to do - perhaps it's just me but I like to be able to see what's around me. The waters are beautifully clear there by day, but at night would be inky black with little light.

I await the autopsy results and hope they're conclusive enough to show what happened.

 

[JerseyGirl]

She could have slipped on any one of those rocks and knocked unconscious.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[moonriverfarm]

She may have been under the influence of a drug, went for a swim and drowned. At least her parents have closure.

 

[Waterzedge]

If she was a bit out of it and she got into the shallow water to, for example, float on her back while the tide was going out, she would not notice that she was moving farther away from the shore. She would notice at some point that the tide had moved her quite a distance. If she was not a strong swimmer, or she tried to swim against the tide into the shore, she would have become exhausted and drowned.

 

[Waterzedge]

That pretty much how I leaned how to swim in Hawaii , drunk me thought it would be a good idea to lay on my back in the pool, nobody was there, I closed my eyes opened them next thing I know I'm in the deep end, thinking now what do I do?

 

[Chiatos]

'COPS say British backpacker Amelia Bambridge may have drowned in the pitch black sea amid fears she went night-swimming alone.

Officials had openly leaned toward the theory that she had drowned in the sea, after her bag containing money and a mobile phone was found on a rock in the sea near the privately-owned Police Beach.

Chuon Narin, police chief of the Preah Sihanouk province, said a tattoo on her body and the clothes she was wearing - the last she'd been seen in - had helped identify her.'
Amelia Bambridge almost certainly drowned night swimming alone in pitch black sea, Cambodia cops say as her body's found

 

[CrazyLilBlondie]

I still think going for a swim on your own in the middle of the night would be a strange thing to do - perhaps it's just me but I like to be able to see what's around me. The waters are beautifully clear there by day, but at night would be inky black with little light.

At the beach parties in Thailand i was in and out the water all the time at night - most people use them as the toilet as they are a better option than the never cleaned toilet huts that are attached to beach bars

 

[otto]

That pretty much how I leaned how to swim in Hawaii , drunk me thought it would be a good idea to lay on my back in the pool, nobody was there, I closed my eyes opened them next thing I know I'm in the deep in, thinking now what do I do?

I went snorkeling alone off one of the Greek Islands without realizing that the tide was going out. When I looked up, I was miles from where I started. It seemed like it happened very quickly. A strong swimmer, I headed back to the beach - arriving about 5-6 hours after I left. Everyone assumed that I had drowned. Staying calm and focused is the way to survive that situation.

If this is what happened to Amelia, where she was in the water and unaware that the tide was going out, alcohol and night darkness would have made it very difficult for her to find her way back to shore. She would have removed her clothing to make it easier to swim, so even if she was found without clothing it can't be concluded that someone else removed her clothing. Furthermore, the ocean would have removed all DNA, and minor injuries to her body could have been caused by being in the water for a week.

 

[Chiatos]

At the beach parties in Thailand i was in and out the water all the time at night - most people use them as the toilet as they are a better option than the never cleaned toilet huts that are attached to beach bars

Sounds reasonable. How does it work? Do people pee in their clothes under water?

 

[Chiatos]

I went snorkeling alone off one of the Greek Islands without realizing that the tide was going out. When I looked up, I was miles from where I started. It seemed like it happened very quickly. A strong swimmer, I headed back to the beach - arriving about 5-6 hours after I left. Everyone assumed that I had drowned. Staying calm and focused is the way to survive that situation.

If this is what happened to Amelia, where she was in the water and unaware that the tide was going out, alcohol and night darkness would have made it very difficult for her to find her way back to shore. She would have removed her clothing to make it easier to swim, so even if she was found without clothing it can't be concluded that someone else removed her clothing. Furthermore, the ocean would have removed all DNA, and minor injuries to her body could have been caused by being in the water for a week.

According to media, Amelia was found in the clothes she had been wearing at the party. So it is presumed she went swimming with her clothes on but without her bag.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

At the beach parties in Thailand i was in and out the water all the time at night - most people use them as the toilet as they are a better option than the never cleaned toilet huts that are attached to beach bars

Yeah, I remember all the turds, condoms, bottles and other random items littering the beach at Hat Rin as the sun came up. Bleurgh!

 

[otto]

According to media, Amelia was found in the clothes she was wearing at the party. So it is presumed she went swimming with her clothes on but without her bag.

It sounds like she put her bag on the rock and got into the water. High tide was at 5:16AM. Although her last photos to family were at 3:23AM, making that the last confirmed contact with family, that doesn't mean she vanished at that time. If she went into the water at 5:30AM, when there was "very high activity" ocean current pulling away from the Island, she could have been in trouble very quickly.

Tide times and charts for Kaoh Kong, Cambodia and weather forecast for fishing in Kaoh Kong in 2019

 

[Cryptic]

It sounds like she put her bag on the rock and got into the water. High tide was at 5:16AM. Although her last photos to family were at 3:23AM, making that the last confirmed contact with family, that doesn't mean she vanished at that time. If she went into the water at 5:30AM, when there was "very high activity" ocean current pulling away from the Island, she could have been in trouble very quickly.

Good research on the tides and the possible timing of her swim. Though an autopsy is still needed, your research does support the death being an accidental drowning of an intoxicated victim.