The family of a man found dead in the sea off a beach in Thailand are frantically trying to find out what happened. Regan Kelly had just embarked on a month-long adventure to southeast Asia when he vanished in the early hours of January 3.
The friendly building surveyor, a regular traveller, was last seen on CCTV footage fleeing from a bar where he had been chatting with an unidentified man.
Regan. 28, had been lodging at the Mad Monkey Hostel on the island of Phuket.
He was reportedly last spotted at the hostel’s bar, engaged in conversation with a man who seemed to be a fellow tourist but wasn’t staying at the same place. After several hours, the pair appeared to have a disagreement, as seen in the video clip which has no sound.
The conversation became ‘increasingly heated’ and a ‘visibly upset’ Regan suddenly got up and left, his sister Laurie Blackall said. He then went down to Patong Beach with the other man following him reports the Mirror.
The final footage from a seaside hotel’s security camera, provided to the family by the police, shows Regan, from Selsdon, south London, running with the other man approximately 15 seconds behind. Tragically, the next day around 10am, a watersports instructor discovered a naked man in the sea, later identified by his family as Regan.
Regan’s sister Laurie, alongside their father, has jetted to Thailand in the hope of uncovering what happened and to confront the man Regan was last seen with. Laurie told the Mail: “We are not too sure what they were talking about, but the conversation seemed a bit confrontational. There’s no audio but Regan looked visibly upset.”
A JustGiving fundraiser has beenn set up to help pay for Regan’s body to returned to the UK for a second autopsy.
Laurie said: “The detective said he has worked tirelessly but I just don’t know if they want to make it out like it was a tragic accident,” and added, “Don’t get me wrong, it could have been an accident, but something is really not sitting right with me.”
She told how she and her dad stayed in frequent communication with Regan since his arrival in Thailand on December 30, leading to their alarm at being unable to reach him on January 3.
At the time he was spotted dashing toward the beach, Regan was wearing shorts, a Mad Monkey t-shirt, black baseball cap, and a cross-body bag across his chest.
Laurie said: “Our main focus is getting him home ASAP and continuing to work out what happened, because for us there isn’t any closure, this isn’t a closed case.”
She also described the man seen with her brother earlier as a tourist-like figure wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, and flaunting a muscular physique.
“I would like to appeal to this guy and for him to tell us what was said, I want to ask why Regan seemed so upset,” Laurie said. “Maybe he was just having a passionate conversation, talking about life. Judging by what we saw, they could have been having a very deep conversation. But it seems like it was getting heated towards the end – no physical altercations more verbal.”
She highlighted that the building surveyor was “very sociable”, always engaging in conversations with people and was an experienced traveller, but she emphasised that he was not a “reckless party boy”.
The fundraiser page read: “Regan was only 28 years old and a happy and loving soul. He planned to travel Thailand for a month but sadly only managed a few days. He was an amazing Son, Brother and Uncle. He’ll be deeply missed by all his friends and family.”
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