Forensic scientists are working to find out if this attractive young journalism student was still alive when she was chopped up into 13 pieces by an older man she had spent the evening with.

Azra Gulendam Haytaoglu, 21, was last seen alive when she left her home in the Turkish city of Antalya on 28th July. Her phone was subsequently turned off, and she was not heard from for five days.

Her family filed a missing persons report with the police. However, any hopes of her being found alive evaporated when the young woman’s call log led the police to civil engineer and real estate agent Mustafa Murat Ayhan, 48, who confessed to killing her.

Ayhan told the police he had had dinner with the young woman in his house and they had consumed alcohol before an argument ensued.

He said he then strangled her to death before dismembering her body with a pruning saw. He revealed he later took her body parts in a suitcase to a wooded area in the municipality of Kepez, where he buried them.

Following his confession, the investigators are now working to determine if Haytaoglu was indeed dead when she was dismembered.

If forensic scientists are able to confirm that, contrary to Ayhan’s claims, Haytaoglu was in fact still alive as she was cut into 13 pieces, it will have implications for the length of Ayhan’s prison sentence if he is convicted.

Despite extensive searches, Haytaoglu’s skull and left hip have still not been recovered.

Ayhan had previously denied sexually assaulting Haytaoglu before killing her, and it was not reported in the latest development if the investigators had come to any conclusions regarding this accusation.

Previous reports had stated that Ayhan had etched his name onto Haytaoglu’s body with a razor blade after killing her.

The previous reports had also stated that the two had known each other from the cafe where Haytaoglu was working part-time as a waitress.

The investigation is ongoing.