Family of woman, 23, who lay dead in flat for a year, still don’t know how she died

The woman was discovered after police made a welfare check.

An inquest was told that Charlotte Leader was found in her flat in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on August 6, 2025.

Her mother, Chantay Simm, revealed that the family had not heard from Charlotte since 2021, and despite searching for her, added that her daughter was ‘impossible to find’.

Additionally, neighbours said they never saw the young woman leave her home.

Police discovered the body of the young woman as they conducted a welfare check after the property managing company Bolton at Home could not gain entry to the flat for a utility inspection.

Her family paid tribute to the 23-year-old on social media, calling her 'a very beautiful and talented young woman'.

"Her many talents were playing the guitar and keyboard and she also had a love for art.

"She was loved tremendously by the family and will be missed every day."

A coroner explained that Charlotte’s flat was ‘immaculate’ and that no evidence to suggest suicide was found during the police investigation.

Assistant coroner Stephen Teasdale told Bolton Coroner’s Court that the young woman had ‘suffered from mental health issues’.

He added: "In time she becomes a stranger from the family, she pushes people away, and she disengages from the mental health services as well."

Teasdale added that there were ‘no illicit drugs found at the scene’ and nothing in Charlotte’s diaries which would ‘suggest that as a problem’.

It was also revealed by Teasdale that she declined an appointment with mental health services in 2022 and that she had no further contact with them.

Charlotte's sister, Caroline Calow said that Charlotte was ‘actively trying to avoid contact’ and revealed she had a history of eating disorders, including bulimia, from ‘quite a young age’.

Police discovered a ‘large volume of letters’ behind the front door and food in the fridge with sell-by dates of July 2024 when they entered the flat, and they then found the young woman's body under her duvet.

Furthermore, police investigations found that the only conversations on her phone were with ChatGPT, which Charlotte had asked to help her.

The last message she wrote, dated July 30, 2024, said: "Help me, I’ve went and got food again."

The AI chatbot responded: "You sound conflicted about having food."

Charlotte replied: "It’s food that I didn’t want and that’s frustrating."

Detective Inspector Paul Quinn told the inquest that there were other messages in the same context and it appeared that Charlotte only exchanged messages with the AI service.

Pathologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital, Dr Andrew Coates, said it was difficult to examine Charlotte’s remains as she had become ‘mummified', and added that it was ‘not unreasonable’ for this to take 'around a year'.

Mr Teasdale closed the inquest with an open conclusion, citing insufficient evidence to determine a cause of death.