The remains of a woman whose body as hidden in the wall of a Brisbane apartment block for about 13 years have been identified by police, who are investigating why anyone would target "a vulnerable single female in this way".
Homicide detectives announced the breakthrough in the "jigsaw puzzle" investigation eight months after cleaners discovered her skeletal remains, tightly wrapped and partially buried in a locked area behind the wall in the building at Alderley.
The woman was Tanya Lee Glover, who was about 38 when she died, Queensland Police said on Thursday.
Investigators had speculated the remains, which were found on December 7, 2022, had been hidden there for some time. Residents failed to notice any smell.
Police used familial DNA to positively identify Ms Glover, who would have been 52 by now, Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said.
Detectives believe she was placed there in 2009 or 2010.
"I am pleased to report that we can put a name and a face to this tragic discovery," Det Supt Massingham said.
Ms Glover was unemployed, kept to herself and led a very quiet and subdued lifestyle.
In an appeal for information earlier this year, police said they believed she had been dead since at least 2015 but might have died as early as 2009.
A joint Queensland and federal police investigation found Ms Glover moved to Queensland from NSW in 2006 and lived in the inner Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley.
Ms Glover was vision and hearing-impaired and was not known to authorities.
No missing persons reports were lodged on her behalf, but her parents are still alive and have now been informed of her death.
"They fell out of contact with her some time ago and were of the mistaken belief that she was elsewhere in the country," Det Supt Massingham said.
"They are obviously upset, they are obviously traumatised as a result of the news that we have provided to them and they are indeed saddened by this recent development.
"The next piece of this investigative jigsaw puzzle is to try to establish who knew Ms Glover so that we can build a victim profile of her and try to identify any persons who may have wished to harm her or who had motive to do so."
The case is peculiar, police say.
"We're yet to establish why someone or persons would target a vulnerable single female in this way and callously go about disposing of her body in the way and nature that we have observed," Det Supt Massingham said.
Ms Glover is described as Caucasian, between 155cm and 165cm tall with dark brown hair.
Police are urging anyone who recognises or may have known her to contact police.
"But we also appeal to anyone - now that they see that photograph and they are better informed as to what the deceased looks like - to re-contact us if they have further information," Det Supt Massingham said.
