Worried for neighbours welfare!

[Howyouudooin]

Hey everyone.

First post, but looking for some advice as unsure what to do.

I havent seen my neighbour and her kids for between 2-3weeks. One of the kids is probably 7/8 and the other is a baby, probably 7months or so. Summer holidays is over so would be a strange time to go away??? Surely?
Eldest has possibly been missing school?? We havent heard a peep from anybody. Its not like my neighbour and Im not sure wether to be concerned or not? They are not quiet people.

I have my suspicions that her partner is a drug dealer, he isnt on the tenancy, unemployed, drives a flash car, is out all hours of the night for short trips. This goes on constantly.

They fight like mad, it gets very hostile, police called on a few occasions.

So tonight I came home to find about 6maggots sporadically crawling by my front door and in the living room (flat). Two in the communal hallway. No flies have been in my flat, its clean, no food. Im finding it hard to understand where they may have come from??

The partners car hasnt been at the property either all this time.

Do I need to request a welfare check, or contact social services??

Should I wait a few more days in case they have gone away?

The communal hall does smell muskier than usual yes, i cant really say what it smells of.

Rotting bodies smell of putrid, rotting meat.

They don't smell 'musky' if they're being eaten by maggots.

You could always have a sniff through the letterbox if you're brave enough but obviously you'd be better calling the police.

You could always just knock and if you get an answer say you haven’t seen her for a while and was wondering if she’s ok.

Sorry if this has already been suggested I’ve only just come back onto mumsnet after a few days of illness and I haven’t read all the. PPs.

The worst case scenario is extremely, extremely unlikely, as much as some faux-concerned, rubbernecking MN users seem to be hoping it is.

If a mother and her kids disappeared off the face of the earth then they would have been reported missing by someone who knows them. The first thing police would do is check their last known address.

The most likely explanation is that they have ran away, gone overseas or moved addresses. This happens all the time, often due to debt or unpaid rent. She might also have been escaping DV so taking out the trash would have been the least of her priorities, hence the maggots & musty smell.

A friend who rents a small flat had her tenants run away after refusing to pay rent. It was also a "problematic" family like you describe here. The problem was that they also kept the keys and she couldn't track them down and was legally not allowed to change the locks. The actually came back into the home briefly at one point as she noticed footprints and some items out of place but clearly didn't stay for long. After a lengthy battle, she managed to evict them in absence and change the locks.

It's also surprisingly common for people to leave all their belongings behind due to MH issues, executive function issues or just overwhelm. Our neighbour had debt problems a few years ago and did the same thing. There were still shoes, headphones and personal items on her balcony as if she might return any moment. The bailiffs were around and stuck letters on the doors and eventually the landlords just disposed of everything and re-rented the flat. Incidentally, the girl turned up alive and well a year later (mutual acquaintances), so it was obvious nothing bad had happened.

If you watch urbex videos on Youtube you can see how many abandoned home still have all the belongings inside. Plenty of family homes with toys and kitchen containing food and even plates laid on the table. None of those places were connected with crime. It's seemingly very common for people to run away without bothering to pack or clean.

Contacting the landlord or council would probably be more logical than the police. If you have a building management or something (or is it a council home?) then find whoever is in charge of that flat. If the rent goes unpaid in a week or two then they'll be aware of the situation anyway.