The three people Surrey Police want to speak to about the death of Sara Sharif boarded a one-way flight to Pakistan – on the day before her body was discovered.
The News and Mail spoke to a Woking travel agent who booked the flight for three adults and five children.
The three adults listed on the flight confirmation were Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner, Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28.
All three are being sought by police as part of their ongoing investigation into Sara’s death.
The travel agent was contacted by Urfan on Tuesday, August 8.
In a phone call to the travel agent, Urfan asked for a one-way flight from Heathrow to Islamabad for himself, his partner, brother and five children as soon as possible because his cousin had died.
No ticket was booked for Sara.
The travel agent said this request was not unusual because in November, 2022 Urfan had booked a one-way flight to Pakistan for himself because his mother had died.
What was unusual, said the travel agent, was that his brother Faisal made the payment over WhatsApp – the brother had never paid for anything before.
The agent believes the brother had only recently come to the UK because Urfan had made repeated money transfers to Pakistan and the brother’s passport was issued only in April, 2022.
The flight was paid for at 10pm on Tuesday, August 8, with the flight departing from Heathrow on Wednesday, August 9 at 2pm.
Sara’s body was discovered on Thursday, August 10 at around 3am after police received a 999 call from Sara’s father in Pakistan.
The ages of the five children booked on to the flight ranged from one to 13. But the travel agent said at the time of the booking he did not realise Urfan had six children.
The agent has never met any of the children or Urfan’s wife. But he said every time he saw Urfan in the past ten years, he was always happy and friendly, with a big smile on his face.
Currently, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the UK Foreign Office are all involved in the investigation.
But there is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan.
Surrey County Council, which has confirmed Sara was known to its childcare experts, said a national child safeguarding panel had been notified of the death and a multi-agency rapid review was under way, in line with standard processes following the death of a child.
The authority said it was “working tirelessly with our safeguarding partners to gain a full understanding of the situation as quickly as possible”.
Council leader Tim Oliver said: “This is an incredibly sad situation and our thoughts and deepest condolences are with everyone affected.
“The review is a statutory process, bringing together partners including the police, health, social care and education to review practice of all agencies involved, organisational structures and learning.”
Police in eastern Pakistan are reported to be seeking to arrest Urfan, in connection with Sara’s death.