Suha Younis Hawa

The torso of what was thought to have been Suha Younis Hawa was found under a Rolls Royce car in Duchess Street, Marylebone.

She was last seen alive on 25 August 1984.

The remains were dumped in a plastic bag and found by a woman who worked for the BBC on 7 September 1984. The woman had been walking along the road with a friend and said that when she first looked, it looked like an enormous dead snake.

She said:

Suha Hawa had been the daughter of a wealthy Saudi Arabian couple. She was reported to have been kidnapped at gun point three weeks earlier.

Her disappearance had been kept secret from the police until an international businessman told them of rumours circulating among people connected with the family.

It was said that Suha Hawa had come to London with an aunt and uncle for a summer holiday and had developed a taste for Western life. However, it was said that whilst staying at a flat in New Cavendish Street in West London, that all three of them were kidnapped on 25 August 1984 at gunpoint by men that broke into the flat and then driven away.

After that the aunt and uncle were released with the order to raise £500,000 ransom for Suha Hawa.

However, by the time the police new about it, the aunt and uncle had left the UK, and were known to have travelled through several Middle Eastern countries after which no trace of them could be found.

However, it was noted that it was not known why they fled.

Attempts to get information from her parents also failed.

As such, it was reported that the police were unsure that it had been a genuine kidnapping, and a member of Suha Hawa's family that was staying at the flat said that they had received no ransom note.

Suha Hawa's remains were found a few hundred yards from the flat.

Forensic tests found that the remains matched the description of Suha Hawa, including her dress and shoe size.

Her inquest recorded an open verdict.

However, it was noted that her parents at that time were insisting that their daughter was still alive.

The pathologist that examined the remains said that the body had been severed through the middle waist by a sharp instrument.

He ruled out any suggestion that the girl had been sexually interfered with.

The police had examined Suha Hawa's room, and matched footprints found there with the feet of the remains. A Scotland Yard print expert said:

A neighbour to the aunt and uncle's flat in Marylebone said that on the night Suha Hawa disappeared that she saw two people 'fooling around' with plastic sacks.

A forensic scientist said that he had examined plastic sacks found at the flat and said that at least one of them was from the same batch as that found wrapped around the remains found under the car in Duchess Street.

The Coroner noted that Suha Hawa's family had not heard from the aunt and uncle since they vanished, and nor had the police. He said:

A friend of Suha Hawa's family said:

When the family friend was asked whether anyone knew where the aunt and uncle were, she replied:

Although it was thought that the remains were those of Suha Hawa, the police said that they had compiled a list of 200 missing girls in an attempt to establish the identity of the remains found, and had eliminated more than 130 from the list, but that there were still 66 missing girls aged between 15 and 17 who were still being considered, with Suha Hawa being one of them. The police said that positive identification of the body was virtually impossible without the top half.