An 88-year-old woman whose body parts were found last week in a boating pond in Tokyo's Meguro Ward may have been murdered in her apartment, according to investigators.

Investigators say a security camera at her apartment shows no signs of her leaving. They are checking the camera footage to see if any suspicious person entered or left the building where the victim, Tokiko Abe, lived alone about 600 meters away from the park.

Police also said there was no sign of anyone ransacking her apartment, where cash in her wallet, bankbooks and a cellphone were found. But the door to the dwelling was unlocked.

The cellphone had not been used since the night of June 19.

Last Thursday, a cleaner spotted a human leg floating in the pond at Himonya Park. A head, arms, legs and parts of a torso were subsequently pulled from the water.

Security camera footage at Abe's apartment building shows her seeing off her son's family after a visit at around 8 p.m. June 19, four days before her remains were found in the pond, the investigators said.

The following morning, a worker from a house cleaning company, who had an appointment at her apartment, received no response at the door and no answer on her phone. Investigators said Abe had probably met with foul play by then.