A 56-year-old woman was found dead in her Mgarr residence by her nephew, a police sergeant, yesterday afternoon.

At around 3.15pm police arrived at Triq il-Bokku tac-Carcara, in Mgarr, to find a woman lying face up and lifeless on her bed. Sources said she had some blood on her face.

The woman had not been seen in public for some days and her relatives called the police officer asking him to visit his aunt during his patrol. The sergeant was said to have found the front door locked and got into the house by breaking a window. Sources claimed that indications were that the woman died of natural causes, but the police are still investigating.

Duty magistrate Antonio Mizzi was informed and he appointed various experts to help in the inquiry.

The body was taken away from the scene in a police hearse. An autopsy will be carried out today.