April 20, 2026 | By: Daniel Cimino

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Lowell, Massachusetts seems an unlikely spot to play host to the highest number of Cambodian Americans in the country per-capita. But the former mill town turned cultural hub experienced an influx of Cambodian refugees decades ago as they sought to escape the vicious rule of the Khmer Rouge. Those who had fled the violence of the old country formed a tight knit community in Lowell, beginning to develop what later became known as Cambodia Town, a small section of downtown that served as a unique example of Khmer culture and cuisine, in the mid-1980s.

One of those refugees was Khemrith Sok, who was a loyal and devoted friend to many of his Khmer compatriots who had fled Cambodia during the genocide era. This resilient community was rocked by the shocking news that Khemrith Sok had been killed in what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong.  To this day, his murder has never been solved.

Khemrith Sok was born on October 6, 1960 in the Cambodian province of Kampong Siem. He was forced to discontinue his education by the Khmer Rouge in the 3rd grade to tend to fields, as part of a broader system in which children were removed from school and pressed into grueling labor that served the regime’s agricultural quotas.

After Pol Pot’s regime took power in 1975, Khemrith fled across the border into Thailand as a refugee of the Cambodian Genocide. Eventually, he made his way to the United States under the name Chandara Rong, first living in Maine and then Rhode Island before settling in Lowell.

Khemrith was a hard worker, described as a “go-getter” by his daughter Theasa Rong. He was dedicated to accruing wealth to fulfill his biggest dream: opening a five-star hotel in Siem Reap, one of Cambodia’s largest cities. In the US, he ran a business, Topline Services, a hiring agency dedicated to linking employers with qualified candidates for potential job openings. He became successful, and he made sure to use the fruits of his labor to spoil his children as much as he could, even after his separation from their mother.

Theasa was 11 years old when the murder took place. She was left with a hole in her heart that could only be filled temporarily by the happy memories they shared together.

“When he came to Rhode Island, he would always pick us up in his BMW,” Theasa said. “He had the convertible top down… he had his Cambodian music playing and he would take us out to eat all the time.”

Khemrith also loved having company over and hosting parties for friends and family. One of Theasa’s first memories of her dad was him singing karaoke with a beer in hand, happily serenading the crowd without a care in the world.

“He would do anything for his friends and his kids,” she said. “He loved having people come together, and he loved singing karaoke. That was his favorite thing.”

On April 23, 2001—his eldest daughter’s birthday— Khemrith died in his Sutherland Street home. Police, responding to a 911 call from his friend and business partner, Mony Var, found Khemrith’s body riddled with stab wounds, his car totaled a few blocks away on Hildreth Street and his wife in hysterics after recently breaking free from being tied up. He was 40 years old at the time of his death. In an instant, the Khmer community had unexpectedly lost a loving father, a business leader and a great friend to many. Khemrith had traveled to Cambodia to visit his mother and family, but his trip was cut short and he was forced to return home to take care of things back in the US. Believing he was still abroad, his family was unaware that the night he arrived home, his killers were lying in wait.

Theasa was one of four children that Khemrith had over the course of his life. She, along with her older sister Khonthea Veth, older brother Kenedy Rong and her younger half-brother Niphanne Ma were racked with grief upon learning the news of their father’s death.

Theasa was playing outside in the front yard of her mother’s home in Providence, Rhode Island with her cousins when a friend of her dad’s arrived to break the news of her father’s murder two days after it happened. When she heard the news, she ran upstairs and wept, while her family tried to comfort her.

“I found myself feeling really alone,” she said. “I found myself being hurt when I would see other kids with their dads. Watching them do a father-daughter dance, that affected me a lot… everybody in the community knew me as the little girl whose father was murdered.”

Theasa’s family left out many of the gruesome details when they told her the news, but she ended up finding out about them anyways through school gossip.

“In my effort to fit in, I didn’t always choose the healthiest friendships,” she said. “I found myself drawn to others who were navigating challenges much like I was.”

His death affected everyone in the family in similar yet different ways. Theasa’s mom relied heavily on the money Khemrith provided to the household, even after they had separated. Taking care of three children was already no easy feat, and she’d now have to do it knowing that the man who fathered her children was dead and could no longer provide a safety net for his children.

“My sister was 16 at the time, becoming a woman. She needed her dad,” Theasa said. “My brother was 14, he was becoming a man. We have a little baby brother too, who needed a father figure.”

After years of unanswered questions and unrelenting grief, Theasa has found purpose in keeping her father’s memory alive and pushing for justice in his unsolved murder. “A part of me is healing,” Theasa said. “As long as I continue to advocate for him, it does make me feel better.”

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Anyone with information concerning Khemrith Sok’s case is asked to call the Lowell Police Department at (978) 937-3200. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward, call Crime Stoppers at (978) 459-8477.

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