JOHOR BARU, June 17 — The school authorities were mystified after chasing up various avenues to locate a female teacher who was reportedly absent from classroom duty since last September (2024), before the devastating news emerged of a decomposed body found at her home last Thursday.

Johor Education and Information Committee chairman Aznan Tamin said the last time teacher Lo Kwan Fong, 39, contacted her school (in Johor Bahru) was on Sept 26, 2024 to inform it of her absence before she went elusive and became untraceable with futile attempts to contact her from Nov 10 of the same year.

“The teacher could not be contacted via phone calls, WhatsApp, short messaging service (SMS) and Messenger and Telegram apps. The school principal also issued a show-cause letter for the deceased’s absence from duty on Nov 21 and Dec 19 last year.

“The teacher’s phone number continued to be unreachable on March 12, 2025, causing the school to resort to various other ways to track her,” he said in a statement here today.

Aznan said among the methods used were through letters of inquiry sent to government agencies like the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the Prisons Department, the Immigration Department and a letter requesting her address from the National Registration Department.

In addition, on Dec 29, 2024, the deceased’s neighbour informed that the teacher had not returned home for a long time, going by the many letters and mail stuffed into the windows and door of her house, while her car was parked on the roadside nearby.

“The deceased was an only child and lived alone after her parents died,” he said, adding that the teacher was believed to have grappled with personal problems like depression.

Aznan stated that as of the night of June 13, the body of the deceased was still at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital here as no next of kin has come forward to claim it.

Yesterday, police confirmed the discovery of the decomposed body of a teacher at a house in Bandar Selesa Jaya, Iskandar Puteri near here, and believed that the deceased had died about a month ago. — Bernama