The body of an Australian former Hells Angels member who was abducted at gunpoint by a group of masked men in Thailand has been discovered in a woodland grave, police said.
Wayne Rodney Schneider, 37, was kidnapped on Monday by a gang of men, also believed to be foreigners, outside his house in Pattaya, a seaside resort town notorious for its sprawling red light district and links with organised crime.
Wayne Rodney Schneider was badly beaten before being abducted in a van. Photo: New South Wales Police
Police launched a frantic search after security guards saw the Australian beaten unconscious and then bundled into the back of a van which sped off.
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But their search took a grim turn late Tuesday when his corpse was discovered outside the city.
“He was murdered. His body was buried two metres deep in a woodland area out of town,” Police Colonel Sukthat Pumpanmuang, commander of Pattaya city police, said Wednesday.
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Police have named their chief suspect as Antonio Bagnato, a 27-year-old Australian national.
