The abandoned body in Bukit Batok Nature Park has been identified as a 47-year-old single woman, Ms Choo Xue Ying.

She has been living in an Eunos one-room apartment for the past three months with an 82-year-old man who said he was a "close friend" of hers.

When contacted by Shin Min Daily, her 82-year-old house mate, Mr Lu, said that Ms Choo had been missing for more than 10 days, but hotly denied that she was the body found in Bukit Batok Nature Park.

He shouted in cantonese at Shin Min reporters, "It's not her! She just hasn't come home!"

However, he said police had questioned him, and had come to take away her belongings. When questioned further, he said that he did not know her family, nor what she did for a living. Lianhe Wanbao reports that she was a property agent.

Neighbours say that Mr Lu moved into the apartment about two years ago. They say he had two wives, one in China, and one in Singapore. His Singapore wife has passed away. He also has two children - a son and a daughter.

Neighbours claim to have seen him in the company of various middle aged women recently. Some brought cooking utensils and appeared to be preparing his meals for him.

Mr Lu says that he did not collect rent from Ms Choo, but she would help with daily chores and buy food for him everyday.

Mysterious identity

After her body was discovered on Oct 20 at Lorong Sesuai by joggers, photos of her belongings were released by the Police in an attempt to identify her. These included 2 rings, a necklace and a Seiko watch.

According to Shin Min daily, a monk claimed her body from the Police on behalf of her family on Tuesday. As it was already highly decomposed, it was cremated that same afternoon at about 5.15pm.

A Buddhist monk collected Ms Choo Xue Ying's ashes on Wednesday morning and scattered them at sea. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN

As Police could not confirm her identity until Tuesday, and limited clues were found at the murder scene, investigation has progressed slowly.

Police has classified it as a case of "unnatural death", and do not discount the possibility of murder.