Residents have expressed their horror after a body was found in an area of woods near their homes.
Two young boys made the grim discovery near New Wanstead road, in Wanstead, on Sunday.
Redbridge police have confirmed that the body is of a man.
Jean Buniak, 90, lives on the road. She said: “I was absolutely amazed and horrified. It is very peaceful and quiet here and I often take my dog for a walk down there.
“My daughter was driving and saw the police cordon and wondered what happened. Maybe it was someone who was elderly. It has been very shocking.”
Shop owner John Wishart, who runs the Simple ‘n’ Natural health store in High Street, said: “It was a surprise for everyone around here; it must have been a shock for those two young boys.
“I walk by the area and it is usually peaceful around here, but I saw the police cordoning it off.”
He added: “I saw someone camping in the woods not long ago. Maybe someone went in and died of hypothermia.”
A resident of New Wanstead road, who did not wish to be named, said: “It is terrible. Never has anything like this happened before and we have been living here for 42 years.
“We didn’t know anything about it until we saw it all on the news.”
Another resident who didn’t want to be named said: “There’s nothing we can say really; it could have been anyone.
“A group of us used to walk our dogs down there before they died, but we wouldn’t go down there anymore.”
A post-mortem took place on Tuesday at East Ham Mortuary.
A spokesman for Redbridge police said they are not treating the death as suspicious at this stage and they are awaiting formal identification of the man.
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