London Police Find ‘Skeleton’ On Sofa After Woman Dead For Over 2 Years Discovered In Her Apartment

LONDON (VINnews) — London police reportedly found the ‘skeleton’ of a 61-year-old woman ‘on her sofa’ over two years after residents say they first reported the terrible stench to their housing association. The stomach-churning smell started in 2019 and sickened residents of Lord’s Court in Peckham, South London, reportedly causing one woman to vomit and her son to have headaches.

Residents say that repeated complained to the housing association responsible for the building but nothing was done about the smell until last week, when police broke into the apartment.

After disappearing for a while, the “horrendous smell” came back in waves, forcing neighbours to call housing association Peabody, who reportedly opened the hallway window and “that was it”. Residents also claim they called police who knocked on the door but did not force entry in 2021.

The woman’s body was found inside her flat “on the sofa” on Friday, February 18, with neighbour Ayesha Smith telling MyLondon that a police officer said they found a ‘skeleton on the sofa’.

The skeletal remains of Sheila Seleoane, 61, were found on the living room sofa of her one-bedroom flat.

Shocked police officers also discovered bright pink birthday balloons close to her body after smashing down the door into the third-floor property.

One resident living right below the woman’s flat told MyLondon that they had “maggots come through the windows” in the summer of 2019, claiming that Peabody told her were not dealt with by pest control. She claimed she first called police after hearing the dead woman’s balcony door crashing open and closed in October 2021. Then as Storm Eunice hit London last week, the door began violently swinging again. After knocking herself, and with Peabody reportedly taking no action, she alerted police who came shortly after 7pm.

Korrina White, 33, also recalled the summer of 2019, she said her son came back from playing in the hallway and told her about the flies coming underneath the door. She thought the smell was sewage at the time. All this time Korrina’s partner, Daniel Fitzgerald, 40, said “the post-box was rammed full, it was bulging out and I put it back in”. They were both devastated the woman had been forgotten, and “livid” that no action was taken sooner.

White added that a cherry picker cleaned pigeons from above the woman’s flat, her door was repainted, window cleaners attended, and a scaffolding was put up right outside her window, all in the last two years. She asked: “How did they not see her? How did they not smell her?”

Mum of four Ayesha, claimed residents complained about the smell 40-50 times to Peabody since 2019. She had to block her door off with a towel it was so bad. She said: “My son was getting headaches, he was feeling sick. When I was pregnant I was vomiting all the time. I would ask my neighbours ‘Can you smell that? Or is it because I am pregnant?'”

Describing the police entry on Friday, she said: “We heard them run up the stairs and then ‘bang bang bang. They suddenly came in a rush. It was so frightening the way they ran in. My son said he froze and he called me to say ‘mum there’s a lot of police running in the block’. There was a really big van and a few cars.”

Currently residents burn incense in the building to try and hide the odor. They are both shocked at the fact that the woman was neglected for so long and furious that they had been “living amongst this death” for over two years. One resident said she was “not surprised”. “People don’t care anymore,” she added.

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A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said: “At 7.01pm on Friday, February 18 police were called to a flat in St Mary’s Road, Peckham. Concerns had been raised about the welfare of a woman who lived at the address. Officers attended and forced entry. The body of a 61-year-old woman who was deceased was found inside. The woman’s death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”