A police source said on Thursday the Myanmar authorities also have the description of a local man seen assisting the women after they crossed the border to escape arrest.

The group is supposedly living in Tachilek, close to the border opposite Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district. They entered Myanmar on May 25, so their visas would have already expired on Thursday.

Myanmar authorities told Pol Colonel Ekkorn Bussababordin, commander of the Chiang Rai Immigration Police, they already knew the women’s location and would arrest them. They said a man was seen picking them up from a dormitory residence near their new workplace, an entertainment venue in Tachilek.

Priyanuch Nongwangchai, 24, Kawita Rachada, 25, and Apiwan Satayabundit, 28, were allegedly involved in the murder of fellow karaoke bar worker Warisara Klinjui, 22, whose body, severed in two pieces, was found buried in Khon Kaen’s Khao Suan Kwang district one week ago.

Two alleged accomplices, Wasin Namprom and Jidarat Phromkhun, are in custody in Khon Kaen.

Substantiating reports that the victim had been killed inside a rented car and her torso severed at a Khon Khaen resort, Promnatthakhet blamed the crime on a personal conflict.

He said Warisara’s information to authorities involved a sole drug case that contributed to Priyanuch’s boyfriend being jailed. He insisted that the women suspects were only selling drugs locally, not across borders.