EDMONTON – Edmonton police are putting out a plea to the public, asking for help in solving the case of a man found dead at a motel Sunday morning. Police believe the victim, 35-year-old Jon Swas Ribut, was involved in the sex trade.
“This placed him at risk due to the fact that he would be interacting with people he would have known very little about,” said Staff Sgt. David Christoffel.
Staff at the Alladin Motel on 111 Avenue and 154 Street discovered his body around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Christoffel says officers found the room to be in a “state of disarray” when they arrived at the scene.
His death was later ruled a homicide, with the medical examiner determining he died of blunt force trauma. Investigators wouldn’t comment further on the fatal injuries, or the weapon that caused them.
Police released his photo on Thursday in case anyone may have known him under a different name.
They say Ribut came to Edmonton from Indonesia in July 2012, on a two-year work visa.
Police are asking people who checked out of the Alladin Motel early that Sunday to contact them.
“Any detail could help,” Christoffel said.
Investigators would also like to speak to anyone who was in contact with Ribut over the past two weeks, or who may have information on his background, associations or whereabouts.
Ribut’s death is Edmonton’s 22nd homicide of the year.
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