The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a cosmetics millionaire - Sosilawati Lawiya of Nouvelle Visages - ended when the police stated that she had been murdered, burnt and her ashes strewn in a river.

Her disappearance, which was reported in the media over a week ago, has been baffling. Her family knew of no threats to her life or phone calls for ransom, while the disappearance of the three men who accompanied her was not reported by their families for several days.