HONG KONG — Family and friends of the slain model Abby Choi Tin-fung on Tuesday (Feb 28) made their first public appearance since her murder, gathering outside the crime scene in Hong Kong's Tai Po to pay their respects.

The mourners at noon arrived dressed in black at Lung Mei Tsuen, near the village house where police last Friday uncovered some of Choi's remains.

The group had earlier visited a mortuary in Sha Tin at 9am to identify Choi's body, staying there for around two hours.

A man surnamed Cheng, a member of Paomes Charitable Organisation, which was co-founded by Choi, said the 28-year-old socialite's husband, father and mother-in-law, as well as her parents had come to mourn and pay their respects.

"We came to accompany the family as we can imagine the family will have a big reaction when they identify the body," he said. "They are still very depressed."

Surrounded by friends, members of Choi's family left the mortuary without taking any questions from the media.

The death of Choi has attracted worldwide media attention over the past week, with police still searching for the last of her remains. Four of her former in-laws were remanded in custody without bail on Monday in connection with her murder.

Dozens of police officers, clad in white protective gowns and masks, joined a massive search operation on Tuesday to comb through a landfill site in Ta Kwu Ling to find more of the model's remains.

The force conducted the grim task after a review of security camera footage allegedly showed a suspect moving bags to a refuse collection from the nearby village house in Tai Po's Lung Mei Tsuen where parts of her body were found, a police source said.

The footage was from last Wednesday, a day after Choi was reported missing.

The gruesome murder came to light on Friday after police found two severed legs, believed to be Choi's, inside a refrigerator at the flat. A skull and several ribs were subsequently discovered in a large soup pot seized from the property. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST