The body of a missing Brit has been discovered on a beach – after he was seen having an “increasingly heated” argument with an unknown man. Regan Kelly vanished shortly after he rowed with the person in question, in an exchange which happened to have been caught on camera.
The 28-year-old was caught on CCTV which is said to show him at the bar of a hostel on the island of Phuket, Thailand. He was on a month-long trip and vanished in the early hours of January 3. CCTV footage is said to show him talking with a man who appears to also have been a tourist but wasn’t staying at the location.
The Mirror reports Regan, from Selsdon, south London, was staying at the Mad Monkey Hostel on the island. They were reportedly chatting for several hours and they then appeared to argue in the video which doesn’t have sound. Suddenly Regan got up and left, said his sister Laurie Blackall, and he went down to Patong beach with the other man following him.
The last footage from the security camera of a hotel by the seafront, shared to the family by police, shows Regan running and the other man about 15 seconds behind. Then tragically the following day at around 10am a watersports instructor found a naked man in the sea, and Regan’s family confirmed it was him, having reported him missing.
Regan’s sister Laurie and his father are now in Thailand to try and find out what happened with the family looking at the meeting with the man in the hostel for possible clues. They said how the conversation was getting “increasingly heated”. 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 also been set up to bring Regan’s body back home to the UK where a second post mortem can also be carried out. She 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.
“Don’t get me wrong, it could have been an accident, but something is really not sitting right with me.” She said that she and her dad had been in regular contact with Regan after he arrived on December 30 in Thailand and so they knew something was wrong when they couldn’t contact him on January 3.
Regan was wearing shorts, a Mad Monkey t-shirt, black baseball cap and a cross-body bag over his chest when he was seen running towards the beach. But when his body was found he was naked and none of his belongings were there either including his phone. Laurie said: “Our main focus is getting him home ASAP and continuing to work out what happened.
“For us there isn’t any closure, this isn’t a closed case.” She gave a description of the man he had been with earlier as looking like a tourist with a white t-shirt, shorts and having a muscular build. 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.
“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 pointed out how the building surveyor was “very sociable” who would always chat to people and was an experienced traveller.
But she added that he was not a “reckless party boy”. On the fundraiser it stated: “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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