Police find iPhone near body found in Pulau Tioman

Police found an Iphone near the decomposed body of a man discovered nearby a chalet in Kampung Juara, Pulau Tioman on Thursday.

Pahang police chief Datuk Sharifuddin Ab Ghani said police were still searching the scene in the hope of finding more clues such as documents to determine the man's identity.

"Police so far are unable to confirm if the dead man is Gareth David Huntley, the British national who has been missing since May 27 as investigations are still ongoing.

"However, we have taken DNA samples from his mother, Janet Southwell to assist investigations.

"The samples have been sent the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya for matching purposes with those taken from the decomposed body of the man found in Kampung Juara. The results will be known in two days," he told reporters when met at the Forensics Department of the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA) here Thursday.

Sharifuddin said initial investigations found no signs of injuries on the body and police had ruled out any criminal elements in the man's death.

He also said Southwell would remain in Kuantan for several days to assist investigations.

Earlier, Southwell had arrived at the Forensics Department of HTAA at 11am on Thursday for identification purposes.

Southwell arrived from Pulau Tioman in a helicopter accompanied by Karen Song, the vice-consul at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and Huntley's girlfriend, Kit Natariga Panyawatcharakun.

The body had been flown from Pulau Tioman to HTAA at around 1am by helicopter.

A post-mortem is being carried out to determine if the body is indeed that of Huntley who went missing after going on a trek in Pulau Tioman eight days ago.

The decomposed body was found by a riverbank, just about 500 metres from the chalet where Huntley was staying at the Kampung Juara Turtle Conservation Centre in Pulau Tioman.

Huntley, 34, who was volunteer at the centre was reported missing on May 27 while allegedly making a trek to the Lubuk Teja waterfalls on the island alone.

A massive search operation involving 157 policemen, civil defence personnel and from other agencies was mounted to find him.