The 35-year-old mother who is thought to have drowned her own son before taking her own life had been suffering from breast cancer, their neighbors revealed.
Yulia Gokcedag, a banking analyst, and her 7-year-old son Timur had been reported missing on August 12.
Officers concerned about their welfare went into their apartment on the Isle of Dogs in east London. They found the 7-year-old boy and his mother dead in the property. The causes of death are drowning and hanging.
A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: “Officers forced entry to the property and found Yulia and her son Timur unresponsive. Both were pronounced dead at the scene and an investigation was launched by the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.
“Post mortem examinations determined the cause of death for Yulia to have been hanging and Timur’s cause of death was drowning. Detectives investigating are not seeking any other persons in connection with the deaths.”
Former colleague and friend Agnieszka Leonowicz said the mother had been suffering from breast cancer.
A neighbor also said that Mrs. Gokcedag had experienced depression many years ago.
Another neighbor said to The Sun: “I know she had breast cancer. It was really sad. I can’t believe what has happened.”
One neighbor, who didn’t want to be named, said he had seen Mrs. Gokcedag with her son many times and she seemed like a ‘devoted mother.’
“The wife seemed really devoted to her son. She was Russian. Her mother and Mehmet’s mother, from Istanbul, were here all the time. The family seemed fine. I didn’t notice anything untoward,” the neighbor said.
Another resident shared how the 7-year-old attended nearby Canary Wharf College Primary School where students and parents have been informed.
“I found out today that my best friend’s daughter went to the same school as the boy,” the woman said. “The parents received an email announcing the death of the mother and the child.”
She added: “She was a very proud and happy mother, she was always thinking of what is best for her family.
She also had lots of experience and was a team player. I am very sad she is gone.”
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