‘Decomposing’ bodies of man and woman found in Hong Kong flat as police launch investigation
Stench leads to Mong Kok discovery of woman lying dead in bed and man slumped behind door
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 07 July, 2015, 6:26pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 July, 2015, 2:52am
Clifford Lo [email protected]
Police at the scene yesterday found burned charcoal but no suicide note. They are still trying to identify the bodies. Photo: Sam Tsang
The badly decomposed bodies of a man and a woman were discovered in a Mong Kok flat yesterday, after the property owner complained to police about a stench emitting from the unit.
Last night, investigators were still working to identify the pair as they had been dead for several days. The woman is thought to be the flat's 28-year-old tenant while the man, in his 40s, is believed to be her husband, according to police sources.
It is understood the couple have a two-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. "The two siblings are safe and now in the care of the couple's relatives," one source said.
Officers made the grim discovery at the eighth-floor flat of Wing Tak Mansion on Lai Chi Kok Road following a call from the home owner shortly after 4.30pm.
They found a tray of burned charcoal, but no suicide note.
The woman was lying in bed while the man was behind the front door, according to police. No obvious injuries were found on them, nor were there signs of a fight or struggle at the scene.
Investigators were looking into all possibilities, another police source said.
"Detectives are investigating whether it is a suicide pact or a murder-suicide," he said, adding that postmortem examinations would be carried out to establish the cause of death.
"Police are treating the case seriously because it involves the deaths of two people," he said.
According to police, the owner said he had visited the flat to collect rent from his woman tenant.
"The owner called police because no one answered the door and there was a foul odour coming from the flat," a police spokeswoman said.
Police officers and forensic pathologists were continuing their investigations inside the flat last night.
The force is treating the case as "dead bodies found". Crime squad officers are investigating.
According to sources, the woman's father had reported about a week ago that she was missing because he had failed to contact her.
Officers found her safe in the Mong Kok flat two days later.
In 2008, a businessman, his wife and their two-year-old son were found dead at their home at Ta Kwu Ling, along with a heartbreaking letter describing how they had decided to take their lives because of a "big mistake" he had made.
The following year, a businessman and his wife, who returned to the city from Canada to start a business, were found dead in an apparent suicide pact at their home in Yuen Long.
