Husband held on suspicion of murdering Thai wife in 2004

The British husband of a Thai woman whose body was found in the Yorkshire Dales more than 20 years ago has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Walkers discovered Lamduan Armitage’s half-naked body in a stream near Pen-y-ghent in 2004 and she remained unidentified for 15 years until her family saw a BBC News report and came forward.

David Armitage, who had lived in Thailand since her death, was arrested earlier when he returned to the UK after the Thai authorities revoked his resident visa.

North Yorkshire Police, which is investigating the death, said: “A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Lamduan Armitage in 2004. He remains in police custody for questioning.”

Mr Armitage was detained last Thursday at his house in Kanchanaburi before being transferred to the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre.

He did not file an immigration petition meaning he no longer had the right to stay in Thailand.

He returned to the UK on Saturday morning and was arrested by police shortly after his arrival at Heathrow Airport, the BBC understands.

The BBC has not spoken with Mr Armitage but he has previously said he was not involved in his wife’s death, according to The Sun.

Mrs Armitage, nee Seekanya, became known as the Lady of the Hills during attempts to identify her after her body was found on 20 September 2004.

A post-mortem examination established she had died between one and three weeks before her body was found, but it could not determine how she died.

There was no sign of violence and hypothermia was ruled out, but detectives could not answer two main questions; who she was or how she met her death.

A cold case review was started in 2016 and scientific advances meant police were able to piece together a more detailed picture of who she was and concluded she had been killed.

Three years later there was a major breakthrough when a Thai family read about the case and believed the woman could be their daughter who vanished in 2004.

This led North Yorkshire Police to carry out DNA testing to confirm her identity.

Inquiries established she had moved to the UK in 1991 with Mr Armitage after they were married in Thailand and they had been living in northern England before her death.

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