Jan Mustafa: Sister Of Murdered Mum Remembers A Talented Dancer Who Doted On Her Family
Even with her hood and collar pulled up, the pouring rain had soaked her through. Mel Mustafa stayed where she was, marking the hours and keeping watch.
The downpour had sent most people hurrying for cover, so the Cardiff food market her bench looked out on was nearly deserted. Yet Mel kept up her vigil, scrutinising every figure who passed, desperate for a glimpse of her missing sister.
Mihrican, known as Jan or MJ, had not been seen since early May 2018. The mother-of-three’s remains were found in April the following year, crammed into a locked chest freezer, along with those of Henriett Szuchs, who had been missing for four years, at a flat in Vendome Close, Canning Town.
They had both suffered numerous rib fractures while Henriett had sustained “dreadful” head injuries and Jan’s sternum and larynx had been fractured. The victims had been subjected to “very significant violence” and suffered injuries consistent with kicking or stamping.
For Mel, the discovery of her sister’s body brought to an end a year of dedicated searching, a search the Turkish family feels was driven entirely by their own efforts. A vivacious and spirited individual, Jan had fallen on hard times and was using drugs at the time of her disappearance.
Mel told HuffPost UK: “When I first rang the police, they asked if she was a drug user. I said: ‘Yes’. I told them where she had last been seen, I asked them: ‘Please can you get the CCTV?’ and they didn’t take any interest in it. She was a medium priority, she was never a high priority because of her drug use.”
Mel had rushed to Cardiff after being tipped off by a stall holder at the market who had spotted the family’s posters about Jan. The contact was able to take a short video of the woman they believed was Jan and sent it to them.
“The girl was the spitting image of...
