"Her body was placed inside the wardrobe, with some miscellaneous items covering it. We believe she had been dead for two to three days," said Eric Ho Chun-chung, assistant commander of crime in Tsuen Wan district. "She might have been killed by someone she knew."

Police officers went to Chan's apartment at Allway Gardens in Tsuen Wan after receiving a report from Chan's 55-year-old father about the body at 2.15am yesterday.

Marks were found on Chan's neck. Police believe she was strangled or suffocated. The cause of death will be determined by forensic scientists.

Explaining why it took Chan's family several days to discover the body, Ho said a variety of items had been placed under and on top of it.

"The body had just started to decompose and so there was not much of a smell yet," Ho said.

Chan lived with her parents and sister in the flat.

Chan's Facebook page indicated she had been going through emotional problems. It was understood the relationship with her boyfriend, whom she met at the end of last year, had turned sour in recent months, and that she had been trying to leave him and recover money that she had loaned him.

She called police in September, saying the man had beaten her in a Tuen Mun hotel. The man was arrested and charged, and placed on a good behaviour bond by the Tuen Mun Court.

Her Facebook page was also flooded with condolence messages yesterday from friends who said she would be missed.

A committee member of Dragonair's flight attendant union, Winnie Poon, said Chan was a kind and polite woman who did not seem like someone who would have any enemies.

Additional reporting from Chris Lau