US Woman Trampled by Elephants in Thailand

Police say victim, in her 20s, apparently left campground to take photos
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 23, 2014 4:53 PM CST
US Woman Trampled by Elephants in Thailand
Elephants in Surin, Thailand.   (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Park rangers in Thailand have found the body of an American tourist who was apparently trampled to death by elephants in a reserve outside Bangkok. The woman went missing Jan. 13 in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park in the western province of Petchaburi, say police. She was found in the woods five days later, after a 70-person search team was deployed, and the severity of the injuries suggests she was trampled to death.

The US embassy in Bangkok confirmed the death, but gave no details about the victim. Police say the woman, who was in her 20s, was traveling alone when she left a camping ground in the park. "Looking at the pictures she took in her camera, we see a lot of animals, birds, snakes, lizards," says one official. "We assumed she wanted to take pictures of elephants because that's what the Kaeng Krachan National Park is famous for. We believed she wanted to find them and take some photos." (More Thailand stories.)

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