Metropolitan Police

Carole Waugh

A body found in a lock-up garage in New Malden, southwest London, was identified as that of missing oil executive Carole Waugh, the Scotland Yard said Friday. 

Waugh, 50, who had previously worked in the oil industry in London and Libya, had not been seen by family or friends since April, when they discussed a planned 50th birthday party for her in June.

Concerns grew last week, when British police said Waugh may have been abducted by a gang of fraudsters who have tried to sell her $1 million London apartment and may have forced her to hand over her bank codes.

Detectives said that an unidentified man impersonating her brother had met people in her apartment in central London's upmarket Marylebone neighborhood in an apparent attempt to sell the property, The Times reported (site operates behind a paywall).

The man, 47, was initially arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and kidnap, the BBC reported. He was later arrested on suspicion of murder, however, when police decided to treat Waugh's disappearance as a murder investigation.

UK cops: Fraudster tries to sell missing oil executive's $1M home

The body was found in a Volkswagen Golf parked in a private courtyard, the BBC reported. Waugh's jewelry and stolen money are still missing.

Detectives believe she may have led a double life. According to the BBC, prostitution was one line of inquiry, along with Waugh's use of Internet dating sites.

Waugh was single, and police have been trying to trace men she may have met online.

Police officers told The Times that Waugh had been impersonated by at least three women at financial institutions across London. Earlier last week, two women, aged 48 and 50, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the case. The 48-year-old has been freed on bail, the newspaper said.

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