Elderly woman found dead named as tributes paid and murder probe continues
20.11.2023 - 09:36
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
An elderly woman who was found dead in her own home, sparking a murder investigation, has been named locally as 'Esther'.
Police were called to Denver Road in Kirkby, Merseyside, after receiving reports that a woman in her 70s had been found unresponsive.
Paramedics were called, at about 11.30pm on Friday, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Merseyside Police said a 78-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. He has now been detained under the Mental Health Act, the force said.
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Esther, believed to be in her mid-seventies, was known by many of the neighbours the ECHO spoke to in the local area.
One woman who had known her since moving into the street around three decades ago, said she was "close friends" with Esther and said the two would "do the knitting together." She said: "We watched the children grow up together.
"We were all in bed [at the time it happened]. We didn't find out until the next day. We went to my daughter's about 10am. We didn't think it was anything as bad as it was. I've been here over 30 years. We watched the children grow up together."
Those living on Denver Street were shocked when a large police presence arrived on Friday evening. One woman living opposite said she came home late on Friday evening to find police on the street, and said from then on there had been a "constant police presence," with a police cordon and van still in place on Sunday evening.
Another woman who lives on the street, who asked to stay anonymous, said she arrived home at around 1.30am