Woman's skeleton found in London flat 2 years after neighbours complain of smells

Two years after neighbours complained of a bad smell, a woman’s skeleton is found in a flat in London

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed the discovery of a 61-year-old woman’s skeleton remains at a property in Peckham, South London. This grisly find occurred after numerous complaints had been made to the housing association, and the police, over the last two years, about a terrible smell coming from the flat.
Finally, last Friday, February 18, officers broke down the door of the flat in St Mary’s Road, at around 7pm, and found the woman’s decaying remains.
“It’s disgusting and I’m just shocked. I have been living here since 2008”, commented a next-door neighbour.  “It’s a small three-storey complex. I didn’t know her very well, but she would sometimes collect my deliveries for me”, she continued.
Adding, “I came back from a trip abroad in September or October 2019 when I noticed a horrific stench in the building. It was so bad, I had to put a towel under the door”.
In 2020, a routine gas inspector had left a forced entry notice on the woman’s door. This raised concern among residents of the building about the tenant’s well-being. Further complaints had reportedly been made after a bicycle was left abandoned outside the flat.
“We repeatedly called the housing association because it was weird – her letterbox full, and I could see from the letters she hadn’t been paying rent”, continued the neighbour. “I called them up again and said I hadn’t seen this lady in months”.
She explained that, “The police came but they said lots of people had moved out of London during the pandemic and she could be abroad. They broke down the door and it revealed what I had feared the whole time – that she was dead. They told me she was basically a skeleton and asked me to confirm her ethnicity”.
A spokesperson for the Met Police said, “Concerns had been raised about the welfare of a woman who lived at the address. Officers attended, and forced entry. The body of a 61-year-old woman who was deceased was found inside”.
“The woman’s death is being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner”, they added, as reported by mirror.co.uk.

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