Crime
US Business Woman Found Murdered in Bangkok Hotel
South Tampa interior designer Wendy Albano, 52 murdered in Bangkok
CHIANGRAI TIMES – A Tampa businesswoman has been murdered in Thailand. Wendy Albano, 52, is a well known interior designer was in Thailand on business when she was found stabbed to death by a hotel maid inside the hotel in Bangkok.
The area is full of upscale hotels, and Albano had been staying there since last Thursday.
It appears she was choked and stabbed multiple times in the chest in her hotel room, and as of right now, police believe her boyfriend maybe responsible.
She had been an interior designer in Tampa for 20 years. She was very successful, working on countless projects and even a home for New York Yankee Derek Jeter.
She was also a mother to two daughters who are in their 20s.
According to news reports coming out of Thailand, closed circuit cameras in her hotel show she was staying with an Indian man. He was spotted leaving with his luggage around 8 p.m. Sunday. Immigration shows he left the country three hours later.
Police believe the couple got into an argument; he killed her then and took off.
Sources have confirmed with her friends that he is Sang-Hvi Ritesh Nar-Patraj, 26 from India. She may have been in Thailand with the intent of breaking off the relationship with him.
Albano was found dead a few days after he left by a maid on the 17th floor of the Fraser Suite Hotel.
It is devastating news to her friends who say she was always a happy person, a loving mom and will truly be missed.
Police are looking for Nar-Patraj. Interpol is being contacted as well to track him down for questioning.
The Albano family offered a written statement:
We were notified of Wendy’s murder by the United States Embassy in Bangkok. They have extended every courtesy, and provided assistance.
We are devastated by the loss of a kind, caring and loving mother, daughter, sister and friend.
Wendy Albano was an interior designer in Tampa, Florida for the past twenty years. She was an avid traveler, loved music, the mountains of North Carolina, and her cats: Bobo, Bebe, Lily, Rudy, Philly and Nelson. She had many friends in Tampa and throughout the country.
She is survived by her two daughters, her parents, her sister, brother, nieces and nephews.
As to her accused killer, Wendy met him and his family in India while attempting to start a design related and fashion accessory import business.
