Two sisters whose decomposing bodies were found in a southwestern Sydney apartment come from a well-connected Saudi Arabian family, sources say.
Asra Abdullah Alsehli (24) and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli (23) were found dead on June 7 in their unit on the first floor in Canterbury.
Their remains lay in separate bedrooms for a month before they were discovered by authorities who tried to evict them for not paying the rent.
The case has been shrouded in mystery from the start – police conducted three welfare checks on the sisters before they died, there were no signs of breaking into the unit, no apparent signs of injury and the cause of death remains undetermined.
The revelation that the dead women are the daughters of a “well-connected” family in the Saudi Kingdom has further heightened the intrigue.
The Saudi Arabian Consulate in Sydney has expressed its condolences to the family, who are said to be assisting them in their investigation.
The coroner has not returned their bodies to their families, although it is clear they could be buried in Sydney.
Pictured: Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23. Her body was found in an apartment in Canterbury on June 7
Pictured: Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24. She and her sister were found dead under ‘suspicious’ circumstances in southwestern Sydney
At a news conference on Wednesday, Detective Claudia Allcroft confirmed that police know very little about the women and renewed a call for public information – anyone who has seen the sisters in their final days has been asked to come forward.
While police told the Daily Mail Australia in June that toxicology tests had been accelerated, detectives said on Wednesday they were still waiting for the results.
Toxicological reports are normally processed within four and six weeks.
Detective Allcroft said she has “no reason” to believe the Alsehli sisters have fled their homeland, sources suggest otherwise.
The women are said to have left Saudi Arabia in 2017, when they were 18 and 19 years old.
Upon arrival in Australia, they contacted a refugee organization and lived under the radar for five years on bridging visas.
Daily Mail Australia put a number of questions to the NSW police, but they declined to comment.
Eight weeks after the gruesome discovery, the case is still plagued with mysteries and inconsistencies.
The bodies of the two women were found in a Canterbury block of flats (pictured) after weeks of no rent paid and mail piled up.
A black BMW coupe covered in dust was removed from the apartment building’s garage the day after the bodies were found
Their deaths have been reported in Middle Eastern publications, but they don’t shed any light on what the women in Australia did or how they passed.
Detective Allcroft declined to release details on the women’s visa status on Wednesday, but said officers are in contact with the family — who have instructed the consulate to act on their behalf.
While the details of the Alsehlis sisters’ lives in Saudi Arabia have not yet been pieced together, what is known about their time in Australia raises more questions than answers.
Both women registered ABNs for sole proprietorship at a Wetherill Park address in western Sydney in 2018, but police are still unable to confirm what work they have done.
They also drove a black BMW coupe that normally costs more than $38,000, and lived in a modern two-bedroom apartment for $490 a week.
In 2018, Asra filed an AVO against a 28-year-old man, but the case was dropped in court the following year and the details of the application are unknown.
Their car was also keyed in at the end of 2021, but it is not known whether it was a coincidence or whether the person who destroyed their property had malicious intent.
Daily Mail Australia understands that the two girls fled Saudi Arabia in 2017. The police are pictured in the apartment building on June 8
Forensics searched the unit last week (pictured) in the wake of the gruesome discovery
The women regularly went to the local gas station for coffee and energy drinks, where workers described them as ‘happy’ but noted that they would only respond to questions – never starting the conversation.
There were also three welfare checks carried out by police in the months before the girls were finally discovered in separate beds in their unit on the first floor in Canterbury, with mail piling up outside their doors.
Police believe the women died in May – around the time they stopped paying rent.
As detectives struggle to find out what the women were up to in Australia, police released their photos for the first time on Wednesday.
It is hoped that the images will evoke the memories of members of the public who have seen the faces of the young women or had some involvement in their lives.
“We hope someone can help our investigators,” Detective Allcroft said.
“Either by sightings, or by those who knew the sisters and may have information about their movements before death.”