Full Name: Elise Dallemagne

Alternative Name: Elise Dupuis, Elise Dubuis, Elise Dua

Case Status: Solved

Record ID#: 0289

*The names “Jane Doe”  and “John Doe” are English names used when the person’s true name is not known. If used above, the name refers to a person of unknown identity.

Date of Birth*: May or June 1986
Birthplace:
Age at the Time: 30
Age Group: 30s
Biological Sex: Female
Hair: Shoulder-length, naturally wave dark brown hair.
Eyes: Dark brown eyes
Skin Complexion:
Shoe Size:
Ethnicity: Caucasian or White
Nationality: Belgium
Languages Spoken:

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

Physical Build: Petite or Short, Slim or Thin

Height:

Weight

Distinguishing Marks:

• Medical Condition, Mental Stability Concerns

Medical Condition: She was behaving unusually and may have been disoriented or medically / mentally compromised at the time.
Physical Abnormality:
Dental Condition:
Scars & Other Marks:
Piercings:
Tattoos:

Other Descriptors:

Clothing

• Tank Top
• Long Skirt or Sarong

*Clothing based on the CCTV image. May not have been Elise.

Possessions:

Date of the Disappearance*: April 19, 2017

Description:

Koh Tao ” is a small Thai island lying off the mainland coast in the Gulf of Thailand. The island lies near both Koh Phangan and Koh Samui and serves as a popular tourist spot for locals and foreigners alike. Some sources say Koh Tao’s name (เกาะเต่า) ‘Turtle Island’ comes from the island’s place as the home of what were once many turtles thriving along the beaches. The island is a breeding site for Hawksbill and Green turtles and has a reputation for being a lively place for nature-lovers around the world. Other sources say the name actually comes from its shape, which looks like a turtle when viewed from neighboring islands.

The waters on the island are particularly clear and filled with coral reefs and wildlife, making it an excellent opportunity for snorkeling, scuba diving, and divers. There are also many chances for hiking and exploring the more central parts of the island. Koh Tao sometimes called a ‘party island’ with a vibrant nightlife and extensive lists of pubs and bars dotting the beachfronts. An estimated 500K people were typically hitting the shores of Koh Tao annually before 2020.

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In April 2017, the island became the backdrop for one of the most perplexing and controversial deaths of a foreign tourist in recent Thai history. Elise Dallemagne, a 30-year-old Belgian backpacker, was found dead in the jungle above Tanote Bay. Thai authorities ruled her death a suicide by hanging, but significant inconsistencies, her family’s persistent doubts, and the island’s grim reputation as “Death Island” have kept the case shrouded in suspicion for nearly a decade.

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Elise Dallemagne was a lovely young woman from Belgium who had already completed her college degree in medicine with the European Institute Of Medicine Natural. She decided to take some time to herself and began backpacking across Asia and the Pacific for the two and a half years preceding her death. She had traveled through several countries including India, Australia, and New Zealand while making occasional stops in Thailand, particularly the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Samui.

She had apparently become interested in the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, a religious (largely Hindu) cult that originated in India. When he was fourteen, an Indian boy Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju (later renamed Sathya Sai Baba) declared himself the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, a famous religious leader with both Hindu and Muslim adherents who had died in 1918. Sathya Sai Baba gathered a large devoted following throughout his life with a proposed message of “Love all, Serve all. Help ever, Hurt never” (Link). The organization presently has more than a thousand branches in 130+ countries.

On Koh Phangan, she stayed at a yoga and tantra retreat called S.A.C.R.E.D., led by a German expat known as Raaman (or Raman/Raaman) Andreas. He positioned himself as a local leader of a Sathya Sai Baba-affiliated group. The retreat at the time of her final stay housed the guru Ramaan and two other women, friends of Elise.

Details about this particular branch are difficult to identify, but there are two websites affiliated with Ramaan and the S.A.C.R.E.D. organization, both copyrighted in 2015. The first operates under the name ramaan.org and has since been taken down. The second operates under the name braahman.org and is still operational. Both list as a location Puttaparthi, India – no mention of its location in Thailand.

The materials are extremely abstract and theoretical, with few clearly defined elements. This makes it unclear exactly what tenants this group adheres to.

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According to Andreas, Elise had most recently finished a trip to New Zealand before visiting the retreat in Thailand. She had discussed looking into plans to finance future travels moving forward (Link). She told Andreas she intended to return to Belgium to find a job and begin saving some money.

According to both Andreas and her family, Elise made a Skype call on April 17 to her mother, whereupon she announced her plans to fly back to Belgium. Eyewitnesses reported that Elise was behaving as usual and appeared pleased during and after her call. No one observed her appearing depressed or unhappy, nor did she behave in a way that would indicate suicidal thoughts.

There have since been reports that Elise was actually in trouble and wanted to leave Thailand as quickly as possible, but these rumors have not been verified (Link).

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On April 19, 2017, Elise boarded a ferry from Thong Sala Pier on Koh Phangan (an eastern island), bound for Chumphon on the Thai mainland. The trip would include a brief layover at Koh Tao’s Mae Hat Pier (another small island) but her mother, Michele van Egten, understood that Elise planned to continue straight to Bangkok for her flight home. She had never mentioned disembarking during the Koh Tao layover.

Considering the fact that her luggage (three large suitcases) traveled clear through to Chumphon, it appears this was still the plan when she boarded the ferry that day. Furthermore, Elise had previously discussed having financial issues, so extending her stay in Thailand was unusual and out of character.

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But for reasons unknown, Elise abruptly disembarked in Koh Tao and at around 3:00 PM., she checked into Triple B Bungalows (also called Triple B Hotel), a basic, affordable resort near the pier.

She requested the cheapest room (400 baht/night). In the guest register, she first wrote her real name but then crossed out her surname and replaced it with “Depis” (variously reported as “Dupuis,” “Dubuis,” or similar). She refused to provide her passport number, saying she would supply it later, an unusual move for an experienced traveler. Staff later showed police the altered registration form.

That evening, around 7 p.m., a fire broke out in her room (H2) and spread to three adjacent bungalows. The origin was reportedly a candle or lamp in Elise’s room. She fled the property but charges were not pressed by the owner and the police did not immediately gather evidence in the case.

That same night, Elise relocated to the east side of the island along Tanote Bay where she checked into the Poseidon Resort (details on the name used are unclear). Both Triple B Bungalows and Poseidon Resort are cheap hostels ($12/night) but had good ratings and reviews online. The distance seems further on a map than it really is (Google Maps estimates it would be a 9 minute trip by car). She then booked a new ferry ticket to Chumphon for April 24.

Police later released low-resolution CCTV footage from April 21 they claimed showed her at around 9 a.m. near Poseidon Resort or a nearby shop, buying rice and confirming her ticket. Her mother has strongly disputed that the figure is Elise, saying the woman appears too large to be her daughter. After this allleged sighting, Elise vanished. No further communication occurred.

Multiple Victims?: No

Rumored or Actual Sightings:

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

Date the Body was Recovered: April 27, 2017

Description: On April 27, 2017 (some reports say April 28), locals near Tanote Bay followed a monitor lizard acting strangely and discovered Elise’s remains in the jungle behind Tanote Family Bay Resort, roughly 2.5 km from Triple B Bungalows. The body was hanging from a tree, in an advanced state of decomposition. Identification was made via dental records and X-rays provided by her mother.

The official autopsy, conducted at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, concluded death by suicide via hanging/suffocation. Police stated there were no signs of struggle, drugs, or foul play. The remains were cremated in Bangkok in May 2017; and her mother took the ashes home to Belgium.

When the story first broke, several news outlets reported that Elise’s body was not hanging from a tree, but rather was on the ground (some say wrapped in t-shirts or cotton scarves) and had been attacked and fed upon by local wildlife. One source says a fuel can was found near the body as well. The police denied all such claims, but it contributed to the suspicion that the death was not really that easily explained as a suicide.

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The case initially received little attention but exploded in late June 2017 after Belgian and international media highlighted inconsistencies. Elise’s mother publicly stated her daughter “did not kill herself,” citing the lack of a suicide note, her forward-looking plans, the false name, the fire, the luggage left behind, and the body’s condition. She had also not received the promised full autopsy report or scene photos.

Suspicions regarding her mysterious death were further exacerbated by increasing concerns regarding the unusually high number of foreign deaths on the island at the time. Between 2014 and 2017, seven foreigners had already died on Koh Tao, causing media and online commenters to give it the nickname “death island”. This number has since (by 2020) increased even more. Although the deaths have been consistently ruled accidental or suicide, many believed the circumstances were questionable and revealed a larger conspiracy of local corruption, an uncontrolled mafia presence, and underground crime.

The police firmly refuted these claims and charged some of the newspapers with deliberately stirring up unfounded stories to sell their papers. The media outlets were accused of wrongfully and negligently disparaging the island’s reputation and tourist economy without proof.

Nonetheless, the coincidences and unanswered questions were sufficient that some of the families have questioned the established causes of death and the transparency of local investigations.

It should be observed that no connection between Elise’s death and that of the other tourists has been proven.

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Surat Thani provincial police ordered a re-investigation. A special task force searched Andreas’s residence/ashram on Koh Phangan in July 2017. Andreas had already left Thailand in late April/early May for India and Sri Lanka (he cited an expiring visa). Andreas later told media he had little contact with Elise during her final stay and saw nothing amiss; she was preparing to go home while he prepared a visa run. Nothing illegal was found at the S.A.C.R.E.D. property.

Police also revealed that Elise had a history of suicide attempts, including one on April 4, 2017, at Nopphawong railway station in Bangkok, where she allegedly tried to jump in front of a train and was rescued and briefly hospitalized at Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry. Her family acknowledged a prior attempt but insisted she showed no signs of depression or suicidal intent in April 2017 and was actively planning her return home.

Police interviewed remaining residents and ultimately stood by the suicide conclusion.

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Unanswered Questions That Persist

• Why did Elise suddenly disembark on Koh Tao and leave her luggage behind?
• Why use a false (or altered) name and withhold passport details?
• Was the bungalow fire coincidental, or connected to her distress or an external event?
• Why the discrepancies in how and where her body was found (hanging vs. on a rock/ground, possible wrappings)?
• Why no suicide note, and why end her life just days before a booked departure?
• Was the April 21 CCTV image truly of her?
• What was her connection to the S.A.C.R.E.D. group, and did anything happen there that prompted her hasty departure?
• Why did Andreas leave Thailand so soon afterward?

Her mother has continued to express frustration over the lack of transparency and documentation. As of 2026, the case remains officially closed as suicide, with no further public re-investigations or charges.

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Time of Death: April 23 or 24, 2017

Cause of Death: According to official Thai police announcements and forensic findings in the case of Elise Dallemagne on Koh Tao Island, the cause of death was determined to be suffocation due to hanging. Her body was found hanging from a rope in a tree. Identification was confirmed through dental records and X-rays. The autopsy revealed injuries on her neck consistent with hanging, and the death was initially (and later reaffirmed by authorities) ruled a suicide. Police stated there were no signs of foul play, such as evidence of a struggle, foreign objects, drugs, or other substances in her body that could indicate external involvement or accidental death.

Recovered Remains (if partial):

Suspected Homicide?: Police say the official answer is “No.” Many believe that the case still has unanswered questions though.

Multiple Victims?: No

DNA Tested (No Match):

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

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License Plate:

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