Decomposed body of woman, 61, found two years after her death

A young woman who lived next door expressed her shock as she remembered the deceased.

Police broke down the door to a flat at Peckham, South London last week Friday to find the skeletal remains of its previous renter.

Authorities ended up with the grim find after they responded to calls from neighbours of a bad smell coming from the apartment. They have reportedly been complaining about it for over two years. They told the housing association landlord about it in October 2019.

However, it was only last week that the police acted on the complaints. They forced themselves in and were shocked to discover the decomposed body of the 61-year-old woman who lived there. Forensics also arrived at the scene to gather evidence (see photo). According to The Sun, she owed thousands of overdue rent.

She told the publication, "They told me she was basically a skeleton and asked me to confirm her ethnicity. It's disgusting. I'm just shocked. I didn't know her very well but she would sometimes collect my deliveries."

The neighbour recalled the first time she "noticed a horrific stench in the building" was when she came home from a trip in September or October 2019. She said the odour was so bad she "had to put a towel under the door."

It is said that other neighbours became increasingly worried after they noticed that the elderly's mail started piling up. They also found a force entry notice for a routine gas check left unattended on her door in 2020. Likewise, they found it strange that she had abandoned her bike parked outside her door (see photo) for many years.

"We repeatedly called the housing association because it was weird. The police came but they said lots of people had moved out of London during the pandemic and she could be abroad," the young neighbour added.

The MET Police confirmed in a statement that police forcefully entered the woman's home in response to calls of a welfare check by neighbours. The authorities are still trying to solve the mystery of the elderly woman's death and are waiting on the coroner's report for analysis. But they have ruled out any foul play and that they are treating it as "unexplained but not suspicious."