Neighbours’ horror as body dug up in garden after arrest of woman
SHOCKED residents have spoken of their horror after murder squad detectives discovered a man’s body buried in the back garden of a house on a quiet suburban street.
A woman — named locally as Barbara Coombes — lives at the address, with her father Kenneth Coombes also listed as living at 19 Matlock Road in Reddish, Stockport.
Police said a 63-year-old woman walked into a local police station on Sunday, confessing she had killed a man “a number of years ago”.
Officers have gone door-todoor handing out a questionnaire to say they are investigating the death of Kenneth Coombes, stating that he would have been in his late 80s in 2005. Mr Coombes would have been 99 years old today.
Barbara Coombes is registered at the address, along with an Islay Coombes (29), believed to be her daughter, a student.
Police have not confirmed the identity of the woman held in custody or identified the murder victim.
A Home Office post-mortem examination is due to take place to establish cause of death.
Neighbours described Barbara Coombes as a quiet woman, only ever seen out walking her small dog when she would say no more than “hello” to passers-by.
Another local described the
Police outside the home where body was found family as “odd”. Greater Manchester Police confirmed that human remains had been found and neighbours said a private ambulance drove away from the address at about 10pm.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he first noticed a white forensic tent going up in the garden on Sunday.
He said: “You never expect anything like this on your doorstep.
“All the neighbours are shocked and everyone is talking about it, but no one seems to know much about that family.”
His daughter said: “My older sister went to school with their daughter Islay and was in her year.
“No one knows what she does, she’s not on Facebook but has a Linkedin account and is registered on a couch surfing website in Manchester. I’ve seen her around here, but don’t know her.”
Islay Coombes, who went to local Reddish Vale High School, has a Linkedin profile that says she is studying at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Neighbour Stella Ashton said: “You can see the back garden from the back of our house.
“We could see two forensic tents, it was all very, very bright, lit up last night, very, very bright and the light was reflecting off the white of the tents. It’s all covered but you could see activity going on.”
Police said yesterday that the woman arrested on suspicion of murder on Sunday remains in custody for questioning and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.