Woman may have lain dead for years

Jul 3 2009

The body of a pensioner may have lain undiscovered for five years in an Edinburgh city centre flat.

Tests are being carried out to confirm the identity of the body of the woman, named locally as Isabella Purvis, who would have been 90 this year.

Officers forced their way into the flat in the Canonmills area of Edinburgh after a neighbour reported water dripping through the ceiling.

The owners of a nearby florist told the Edinburgh Evening News they had not seen the elderly woman since 2004.

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders police said: "Police were called to an address in Rodney Street in Edinburgh on June 30, after concerns were raised over an elderly resident.

"On entering the premises, officers discovered the body of a 90-year-old woman.

"There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, and a report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal."