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Distraught mum identifies items with body in box

Qiong Yan went missing more than three months ago and now a man has been charged with her murder.

Qiong Yan went missing more than three months ago and now a man has been charged with her murder. Photo: Queensland Police

Police believe a body found stuffed inside a metal box and left on the balcony of a Brisbane unit is that of a Chinese woman reported missing in April.

The distraught mother of 30-year-old Qiong Yan has spoken to Queensland Police from her home overseas.

She has identified jewellery found with the body, which was wrapped in a sheet inside the sealed box and left on the balcony of the unit at Hamilton.

Police say formal forensic identification could take days or weeks, due to the body’s advanced state of decomposition.

In the meantime they have released a photo of Ms Yan, in the hope members of the public can help piece together the final phase of her life.

Queensland is seeking the extradition of another Chinese national, Yang Zhao, 26, who lives in Sydney but is allegedly still renting the unit where the body was located.

He was formally refused bail when his case was mentioned in the Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday. The matter is expected to return to the same court on Wednesday.

There’s a warrant out for Zhao’s arrest, on one count of murder.

Police found the body on Monday afternoon as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Ms Yan, who was reported missing to NSW police on April 12.

Officers have said she was previously seen at the Hamilton apartment but there was no romantic relationship between her and the man they intend to charge with her murder.

-AAP
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