The best of a young girl found dead in a flat with her entire family told her parents "something's happened" shortly before receiving the heartbreaking news. Maja Wlodarczyk, 11, was found dead with her dad Michal , 39, mum Monika, 35, and brother Dawid, three, at their home in west London on Friday.
Police were called to the property on Staines Road, Bedfont, and forced entry but the family could not be saved. Detectives investigating the incident said they were keeping an "open mind" but were not seeking any other suspects in connection with the deaths, the Mirror reports.
Neighbours and friends have since paid tribute the family, originally from Poland, describing them as "lovely". The father of Maja's best friend, James Hoopa, lay flowers wth his family at the flat while forensic searches were ongoing.
He said his daughter Jasmine, 11, ran home to tell him something had happened to Maja on Friday afternoon. Mr Hoopa said: “My daughter goes to school with the little girl in the same year. Last night I finished with about half six and I came down here and I saw the police cars and everything.
“I got home and I said well, have you contacted your friend? Is she okay? But you know what children are like, no notice. Then I come back from work today I find out that she's dead.
“I found out Maja is dead. We know the parents as well, the dad and the mum, they all go out together. She was just a normal child, growing up, a lovely girl. She’s just a normal child, this is a shock.
"I don’t know how my daughter is going to get through this because my daughter is best mates with her. For her to go through this experience, something else as parents that we’ve got to deal with. We’re neighbours, we live across the road, this is a shock - it’s going to take some time to settle into this one."
His wife Mrs Hoopa added: “Occasionally I’d take them out, just me, Maja and Jasmine would go out together. We’d plan to go out, we went to McDonald’s, we went to Nando’s, not long ago we went to Staines shopping.
“This morning she went out. Not long later she came home, I was a bit surprised she came home so quickly. She said to me 'mum, mum, something’s happened, I think Maja, something’s happened to her'.
“I said let’s go and check, then we saw the article online that they’d passed away. Me, Jasmine, and Jennifer, my daughter, we all rushed down to verify because the description matched them. I thought 'no, no this is not right'.
“I just can’t believe it. She was a very brave girl, very mature for her age. It’s just a shock. I don’t know how we’re all going to pull through as family.”
Neighbours also told how they watched Monika playing "very happily" together with her two children just days before their tragic deaths. Oana Petraru, 31, said she often saw the mum joking and laughing with the children in the evenings and weekends, but rarely saw the dad.
She said: “I just saw the mum because the garden is just out there. I saw her sometimes with the kids outside. They were very happy. She was always playing with them, with the ball, just being a mum, you know?"
Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley said previously: “I would like to assure the community that specialist detectives are working to establish the circumstances which led to this tragic incident and we will provide further updates as soon as appropriate.
"Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by what has happened. Our investigation is at an early stage, and the situation remains that we are not currently seeking anybody else in connection with the incident.
“We are however retaining an open mind, and I would ask anyone who feels they have pertinent information to contact us as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to call 101, quoting reference 5135/16Jun. Alternatively please provide information via the online form at: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/01MPS23V28-PO1.
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