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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Holly Evans & Graeme Murray

Mum, 75, found dead in ‘piles of rubbish’ in kitchen after going missing two years ago

A mum was found dead in "piles of rubbish" in the kitchen after going missing two years ago.

Lillian John-Baptiste's body was discovered by officers from the Met Police after an appeal for help to find her.

She had been missing for more than two years and was discovered dead among "piles of rubbish" in a kitchen, reports MyLondon.

The body of Ms John-Baptiste, 75 who is originally from St Lucia, was found on February 2 after police published a photo of her before Christmas.

An inquest into her death opened on Thursday (February 17), which heard officers had arrived at a property to find her body lying among “piles of rubbish”.

The Met Police found the mum's body after an appeal (Getty Images)

She had last been in Newham, London, in September 2019 and was finally reported missing in July 2021 after her friends and family became concerned.

MyLondon reports that her daughter wrote on a poster on the Caribdirect website in August 2021: “My mum has been suffering with a severe mental illness for over 40 years.

"This is the longest time that no one in the UK and St Lucia has not seen or heard from her."

At the time of her disappearance, it was reported that Ms John-Baptiste required medication for her mental health.

But police were unaware of her sourcing any prescriptions from any local medical centres.

Opening the inquest, assistant coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe told the court: “On Wednesday, February 2, police found this woman lying on a kitchen floor amongst piles of rubbish in a state of decomposition.

"A post-mortem was carried out which gives the cause of death as ascertained due to advanced decomposition. As such, an inquest is required."

Ms John-Baptise’s full inquest will be heard on July 12 at Waltham Forest Coroner's Court.

On February 18 the body of a 61-year-old woman was discovered after her neighbours had complained of a “horrific stench” for the last two years.

A neighbour told The Sun that she was “basically a skeleton” by the time police came around to search the property.

Her death is currently being treated as non-suspicious but unexplained.

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