Police in London are facing public criticism of their slow response to calls from worried friends of a 27-year-old Thai woman who was found stabbed to death in her home in Westminster.

Kamonnan “Angela” Thiamphanit was found dead on Monday morning in Stanhope Place, near Hyde Park.

British media reports quoted neighbours as saying they heard screams before her body was found.

Police are still looking for a suspect.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Thursday evening that the dead person was a Thai who had been stabbed.

According to the Daily Mail, officers were contacted on Sunday evening by a friend of the 27-year-old who was concerned about her, but they did not go to the house until 13 hours later.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that they had received a call at 7.05pm on Sunday and another one from the same person at 9.34 pm, the BBC reported.

“The woman was initially graded as a medium risk missing person prior to the discovery of her body,” the force said in a statement.

Officers went to the home on Stanhope Place at 8.30am Monday. When they forced entry they found a woman dead with “a number of stab injuries”.

Neighbours told the Daily Mail that Kamonnan lived at the address in the affluent neighbourhood in the City of Westminster. The £4-million (185 million baht) property housed the Ethiopian Embassy until four years ago but had since been converted into a number of Airbnb units, they said. It was not known what parts of the property had been rented by the victim.

Neighbours said they heard two “high-pitched screams” and then silence hours before the body was found.

It is thought the victim might have known her attacker as the house has a video entry system at the front door, and there was no sign of forced entry before officers entered on Monday morning.