A Hungarian woman found dead in a freezer in a London flat had come to Britain “for a better life”, a charity worker has said.
Police named Henriett Szucs as one of two women discovered in a chest freezer at a property in Canning Town last month.
The 34-year-old had been in the UK for several years, but had no fixed address, the Metropolitan Police said.
Szucs is said to have moved alone to London looking for work after giving up her job as a factory packer in Miskolc, an industrial city in northern Hungary.
However she became destitute and was last heard from by her family in summer 2016.
She is said to have been a daily visitor at the Welcome Centre, a homeless charity in Ilford, east London.
Manager Sonia Lynch told Sky News it was a “terrible shock” to hear Szucs had died and the circumstances in which she was found.
“Despite the difficult circumstances of being a female and homeless in the UK, she was quite a warm, kind and caring person, always smiling, always drawing and to know she has come to this end is quite distressing,” she said.
“When we knew Henriett she had no issues with drugs and alcohol and other issues. People’s perception of homeless people are that they brought this upon themselves.
“It’s not that at all. People like Henriett came here for a better life, get work, support themselves but it didn’t work out like that.”
Lynch said Szucs was “very talented” and often sketched for other people who used the centre.
She last visited the centre in August 2015 and “sounded like she was getting her life together”, but was not heard from by staff again, Lynch said.
Her body was discovered after police forced entry to the flat in Vandome Close on April 26.
Officers also found the body of a second woman, identified as missing mother-of-three Mihrican Mustafa.
The 38-year-old, who was also known as Mary Jane and MJ, disappeared last May.
No formal cause of death has yet been established for the women but post-mortem examinations showed they both suffered multiple injuries.
Zahid Younis, 34, who lived in the flat, appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court last week charged with two counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body on or before April 27.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Kingston Crown Court on May 29.