A manhunt is under way after an award-winning film director was found murdered in her home near Regent’s Park.
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was discovered in Mornington Place in Camden at 6pm on Friday. Neighbours claimed she was found wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth.
Police believe she may have been targeted for her diamond encrusted Rolex watch.
Ms Abbott walked her Corgi dog on most days near the address a short distance from London Zoo. She had been popular in the enclave where homes sell for over £10 million.
Metropolitan Police officers were called by the London Ambulance Service who attended and sadly pronounced her dead at the scene.
They suspect a luxury timepiece may be missing from her address. The killer is still at large.
A post-mortem examination took place on Sunday and gave cause of death as sharp force trauma.
A spokesman said: “The watch has a distinctive diamond encrusted watch face.
“Police are also appealing for anyone who may have information regarding the whereabouts of her Rolex watch.”
Ms Abbott previously worked in the creative industries and was also known professionally as Sarah Steinberg.
Her next door neighbour Laura, 34, told the MailOnline Ms Abbott had starred in several films and used to live in Beverly Hills in California.
“She was a movie star. She was in a couple of movies,” she explained. “She came over here and lost everything. Everything was stolen off of her.'
Ms Abbott's social media says she spent time growing up in London, studying Arts and Science at Merton Technical College and attending Pelham High School in Wimbledon.
She later relocated to Los Angeles where pictures on her Facebook page show her rubbing shoulders with stars including Dan Ackroyd, Paris Hilton and Kate Hudson.
Ms Abbot had run a film production company and made a documentary she directed called 'Gods of War' which she said won several awards.
She also wrote and published a novel.
The last known sighting of her had been on the morning of Tuesday June 10, three days before she was found.
Her family are aware and will continue to receive support from specialist officers.
Detectives are keeping an open mind about the possible motive for the incident.
At this stage, there have been no arrests.
Neighbours said the alarm was raised by family members who were concerned after hearing her dog Prince barking inside Ms Abbott’s home.
“We heard her niece shouting and banging on the door and we heard ‘help me help me somebody help me’ and my son ran across,” one neighbour said.
“The niece was getting hysterical and said you’ve got to break the door down and my son bashed the door down as my other son rang the fireman and they got in and next thing we hear screaming and we hear ‘my god she’s been murdered’”.
She claimed those responsible “put the dog in the bathroom, they shut Jenny up by putting tape on her mouth and they ransacked her house.”
“I knew her quite well as a neighbour we talked about politics and current affairs. She was a vibrant person, smart, very intelligent and she’d done quite a lot of things in her life,” she added.
“She was a woman of taste and she wouldn’t have cheap stuff around.”
Neighbours said drug users would hang out round the entrance to the block of flats and Ms Abbott recently had a run-in with them when they blocked the doorway.
She was worried about anti-social behaviour and “people getting in the flats”, one neighbour said.
Another neighbour Billy Currie, 63, said: “She was always walking the dog and was really nice and always said hello and looked at me because we’d been here so long.
“She was quite reserved but a very friendly woman and very warm.”
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in Camden, said: “We are working closely with our colleagues in the homicide team to establish exactly what happened and it’s incredibly important that we hear from anyone who may have knowledge about how this awful death occurred.
“Were you out in Camden on Friday? Perhaps you had been coming home from work, or at an event nearby? Did you see or hear anything around Mornington Place that struck you as being unusual?
“Someone must have seen or heard something and no piece of information is too small. It could be the crucial clue that leads us to identify Jennifer’s murderer.
“Extra patrols continue in the area while my officers remain at the crime scene. I would urge anyone who has any information, or who may be worried, to speak to them.”
London Ambulance Service said: “We were called to reports of an incident at 5.47pm on Friday, June 13 in Mornington Place, NW1.
“We sent an ambulance crew but, sadly, a woman was pronounced dead at the scene.”
