Brother Of Dead Woman To Make Appeal

30 August 2016, 10:11 | Updated: 30 August 2016, 10:12

The brother of a woman who was found dead in Edinburgh months after going missing from her London home is to make an appeal for information on the anniversary of her disappearance.

The death of Saima Ahmed remains unexplained after her body was discovered in the Scottish capital - 400 miles from her Wembley home - in January.

Police hope the fresh appeal by her brother, Sadat, at Gogarburn Golf Course, close to where his sister's body was found off Gogarstone Road, will help piece together the 36-year-old's last movements and uncover what led to her death.

She was reported missing in August 2015 by her family, who say they have no idea why she would have travelled to Edinburgh.

Police Scotland believe the librarian died close to the time she disappeared but post-mortem examinations have resulted in an ''unascertainable'' cause of death.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin MacLean will join Ms Ahmed's brother in making a new appeal on Tuesday.

He said the reasons behind her decision to travel to Edinburgh were a "continuing source of bafflement'' for police and her family.

He told BBC Radio Scotland: "All our inquiries suggest that Saima unfortunately met her death close to the time she went missing from London around the 30th and 31st of August.

"We're appealing to anybody who perhaps has maybe missed our previous media appeals, who is now back in the city at this time of year, who might have seen Saima come off the train, perhaps at Edinburgh Waverley Station, perhaps then journey to Portobello, whether by taxi or bus or tram, and then at some point she must have made her way further west across the city to where she was ultimately found at Gogarstone.''

He added: "I'm confident that this further appeal today will help us establish some further piece of the jigsaw in Saima's last movements.''

Ms Ahmed was last seen on August 30 on CCTV, boarding a train at Wembley Central station instead of going to work.

Detectives believe she took further trains to Edinburgh, likely via Hemel Hempstead and Birmingham, although her exact route is not known.

There is an unconfirmed sighting of her at Portobello Beach around the end of August.

Her remains were found at Gogar Mount House on January 9.

The Metropolitan Police are being investigated for their initial handling of the missing person search.

The Directorate of Professional Standards has referred the force's handling of the inquiry to the Independent Police Complaints Commission watchdog, along with a complaint from Ms Ahmed's family.

Family members claimed Met officers initially failed to take the case seriously despite her disappearance being ''totally out of character''.