Shin Min Daily News reported that police had been conducting investigations at Lorong Sesuai, where a decomposed corpse was found on Monday morning. Investigations are on-going at press time.

An area of 200m radius surrounding the scene of the crime had been sealed off from the public while police combed the forest for clues. Ten ghurkas and two police dogs were deployed to assist in the search.

Police officers also collected soil samples and interviewed all residents in the area to find out if they detected anything out of the ordinary in the past few days.

As there were no identifying documents on the body, investigating officers also took the thumbprint and DNA samples from the body in hope of matching missing persons records.

They also set up a black tent in the area where the body was shifted. Forensic experts examined the body in the tent so as not to disturb the evidence.

Head was covered

The head of the body was wrapped with a cloth when found. According to Mr Wang, 66, a retiree who first found the body, the covering on the body's head looked like a pillow case. It was tightly wound around the head of the body, and could possibly have been used to strangle the victim.

He thought it was also possible that the head was covered after the victim had died, but the bloating of the body filled up the cloth cover. He says that the body was already quite distended when it was found, and even its clothes appeared tight due to the bloating. He had a hard time figuring out if it was a man or woman.

There were however, no obvious wounds, bloodstains or any signs of injury.

Police has determined, however, that the victim is a Chinese woman. While they have classified the case as an unnatural death, they have yet to issue any statement as to the cause of death. The body has also yet to be identified; her age is also undetermined.

Questions unanswered

Shin Min interviewed witnesses and experts to find out how the crime could have taken place.

Mr Wang, the original eye-witness, thought the body was discarded in the area but did not die there as the undergrowth in the area was undisturbed, and there were no bloodstains.

A private investigator and ex-officer from the Criminal Investigation Department interviewed by Shin Min speculated that the victim might have been executed in a dispute by triads, drug traffickers or other criminal operations.

Another theory was that the woman was the victim of a hit and run accident, as there were tyre marks found near the body, and marks of a car bumping against a nearby tree.

It was also difficult to determine when the body appeared, as there had been few passers-by in the area. A resident claimed that she noticed a bad smell in the area since Friday night. They also said their dogs had been sniffing the air more frequently, seeming to have detected the smell earlier.