American instructor dies in Thailand

[SinoScuba]

American scuba diving teacher found dead on remote mountain in Chon Buri

Chon Buri - An American scuba diving teacher was found dead inside his car at a remote spot on a mountain in Sattahib district Monday morning.

Police believed Kenneth Earl Steube, 49, from Los Angeles, committed suicide as the car was locked and there were traces of burning charcoals inside the car.

Police said he rented the Honda Jazz from Pattaya on November 21 and was scheduled to return it on November 24.

The car was found parked on a road leading to a rock grinding plant in Tambon Bang Sareh.

A cattle man told police that he saw the car driving around very fast on November heading to the rock grinding plant and did not drive down.

 

[K_girl]

Cause of death of American dive instructor still undetermined

Patcharapol Panrak
An American dive instructor police originally speculated had committed suicide by lighting charcoal inside a sealed rental car may in fact have died of a stroke, Bangkok forensics experts have ruled.
Kenneth Earl Steube, 49, was found Nov. 30 at the foot of Wang Pla Mountain. Police initially ruled the death a suicide. An eyewitness, Rampei Puenpaiwong, 55, who tended a cow nearby on November 25, told the police that on that day she saw the car drive around on the mountain road 3 times, but never saw it come back down from the mountain.
Police originally speculated that he had parked, threw his keys out the window, locked the doors and then lit Kingsford charcoal briquettes inside the vehicle. Carbon monoxide poisoning was their official cause of death.
But according to preliminary autopsy results from the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Steube died of a stroke. The complete autopsy is to be carried out for more information about the death and to conclude the case.
Police had said they believed Steube had been an instructor with a Pattaya-area dive shop. Officers surveyed shop owners in the days following his death, but discovered that, according to his passport, Steube had only arrived in Thailand in late October and was scheduled to depart at the end of November.
Deputy U.S. Consul-General Charles D. Carson met with Col. Somchai Soontawanik, superintendent of the Sattahip Police Station, to check on the progress of the investigation and was assured that no final determination of cause of death, either by natural causes, suicide or homicide, has yet been made.

Source: Pattaya Mail - Vol. XVII No. 50 - Friday December 11 - December 17, 2009 News

 

[deepstops]

Is this diving related??

 

[Cave Diver]

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