'Surely that's a hoax?' Disbelief as a 'quiet murder' probe unfolds in retirement flats

Lonely cars roll through the streets, a children’s playground sits empty, swings creaking in the autumn wind.

Looming over the place where kids go to play is a retirement community. Blocks of flats surrounding a courtyard.

It’s always really quiet, say neighbours, as the flats are occupied by over 55s who stay there for decades, often making it the home they’ll see out their lives in. This week has been like any other on the estate, pretty quiet – but the people who live here have been shocked by something sinister, and apparently silent.

READ MORE: Murder investigation launched after woman, 59, found dead in Bolton

Detectives have launched a murder probe after a 59-year-old woman was found dead at one of the retirement complex flats in Bolton. A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody for questioning, Greater Manchester Police said on Friday.

The investigation was launched after police were called to 'reports of a concern for welfare' at Furness Square, off Glaisdale Close, Tonge Moor, at around 10.15am on Tuesday. Inside the property, police found the body of a 59-year-old woman.

Police described the death as an 'isolated incident with no threat to the wider community'. Many of the residents in the area met the news today (Saturday) with bewilderment, saying they had not seen any police officers all week, and had no clue the incident had even taken place.

Pointing around the empty roads, one mum who lives opposite the flats, who wished not to be named, said: “It’s like this all the time, that complex is filled with over 55s so they tend to keep to themselves. It’s really quiet around here.”

A man emerged to have a cigarette outside his home across the street, he regularly catches up with the goings on of the street that way, but had no idea a murder case had been launched. “We know lots of people in those flats because we see them all the time,” he said, responding to the news that someone has been arrested for murder after a woman was found dead inside.

“You see their cars coming in and out, but there’s been nothing unusual – surely that’s a hoax?”

Other neighbours were also in disbelief, with one woman only a few doors down from the retirement flats hearing about the investigation through the news. “It’s so unusual, I’ve never heard of anything like this happening, and I’ve lived here since these houses were built in the 1980s.

“After I heard it on the news, I even went to the Post Office to ask if any of the staff had heard about it, and no one had. You’d think it hadn’t happened.”

“It’s generally considered quite a safe area. You get the odd stolen car being chased up here by police thinking its’s a cut through and finding out it’s actually a cul-de-sac, and being caught. But they’re obviously not locals here,” said an elderly man, who has lived on the estate for 20 years and has a keen interest in the community’s safety.

He said he never saw any police cars this week, adding: “I suppose if it’s a quiet murder, the police might not see a need to get anyone else involved.”

But police confirm the tragic case is anything but a hoax. Det Chief Insp Dave Turner said: "The thoughts of the entire investigation team remain with the victim's family at this time. We are committed to getting answers for them and establishing what occurred.

"I understand people will be concerned when they hear of news of what has happened, but I would like to reassure you that we have a number of additional resources dedicated to this investigation. We are treating this as a murder investigation and are carrying out multiple lines of enquiry."

For the people who live their lives looking at those retirement flats, the questions continue. Two young parents told the M.E.N.: “It’s always quiet, just like it is right now. Anyone who lives here keeps an eye on things, you know your neighbours and you clock people coming and going – and we still had no idea.”