The elderly Danish woman who was found dead in Gozo last month had been strangled, the police said yesterday.

In a statement, the police said Vera Bodil Engelbrecht Holm, 72, had suffered “asphyxia by way of strangulation” and they were now treating the case as wilful homicide.

The woman’s lifeless body was found completely naked and face down in a pool of water in Marsalforn by a man walking his dog on July 27. At the time, the police said that they were treating the case as a “suspicious death” for, although the wounds she had suffered could have been due to foul play, they could also be the result of a fall.

An autopsy established she had suffered a blow to her head, bruises to her chest and a broken rib. It had, however, proven inconclusive due to the advanced stage of decomposition.

The police yesterday said it was only after further tests were carried out that pathologists had confirmed the woman had been strangled.

Her mobile phone and purse were nowhere to be found when her body was discovered, and the police were forced to conduct forensic tests to verify that she was the same woman who had been reported missing three days earlier.

She was here on holiday with her son-in-law, his brother and her two grandchildren.

The police yesterday called for people who had any information that might help in the investigations to contact them on 119 in a confidential manner.