Zalina's mobile phone turned off for good seven days before she went missing

SHAH ALAM: The mobile phone belonging to Zalina Shaharah Azman, 58, was turned off on Nov 20 last year, seven days before she was reported missing, says Shah Alam district police chief ACP Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim.

He said that based on the investigation police believed that the former newsreader, aged 58, might have disappeared earlier than Nov 29, the date that she was reported missing.

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"We wouldn't have known she was missing if her son didn't try to contact her," he told Bernama during a visit to Zalina's house with Bernama chairman Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi.

"Zalina may have gone missing earlier... We checked and found that her phone was turned off (no record of outgoing or incoming calls) on Nov 20.

"Whether this was because its battery had run out, we are unsure," he said.

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According to him, Zalina's house was in a messy state because it was being renovated and converted into a gallery.

In a statement earlier, Mohd Iqbal said police were looking for the construction workers involved in the renovation to assist the investigation.

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He said police have called in six individuals for their statements since she was reported missing.

Previously, Mohd Iqbal had said that police believe that Zalina was still in the country as there was no record of her leaving the country.

Police received a missing persons report involving Zalina from her son Mikhael Norman, 33, on Nov 29 last year after he had been unable to get in touch with her since Nov 24, to inform her that her father had been admitted to hospital. – Bernama