Police say one of the two women found dead in a freezer in a squalid flat in east London was a mother of three children who had been missing for a year.



The Metropolitan police said the force had referred itself to the police watchdog over the case of Mihrican Mustafa, 38, also known as MJ.

A Met statement said: “The mother of three had been reported missing to Newham police on 10 May 2018 and work had been ongoing to trace her. She lived in/frequented the Canning Town area. Since MJ was a missing person, the Met has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in accordance with agreed protocols.”

DCI Simon Harding said: “We are now confident that one of the females found is MJ. As you can imagine, this is a devastating time for her family and we would ask for their privacy to be respected. MJ was reported missing in May 2018. As yet we don’t know when she died; a postmortem examination is ongoing.

“I would appeal for anyone who knew MJ and may have information about what happened to her and in particular her association with the address in Vandrome Road where she was found to come forward. Did you see her just before or maybe even after she was reported missing? What was she doing? Who was she with?”

The force said detectives believed the flat in Vandome Close was frequented by drug users and “transient members of the community”.

Before Mustafa was officially identified, her older sister Mel Mustafa, 47, said: “I wish the police would have listened to us earlier. They failed and I’m not scared to admit it any more.”

Zahid Younis, 34, who lived in the flat, appeared at Wimbledon magistrates court on Thursday charged with two counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body on or before 27 April. He was remanded in custody to appear at Kingston crown court on 29 May.

A murder investigation is continuing and detectives are working to identify the second woman.