PORT DICKSON, Negeri Sembilan - A teacher and her 10-year-old son were found dead in their apartment in Jalan Sutera Lama here yesterday, hours before they were to go to Kelantan for their Hari Raya holidays.

The bodies of Norliza Ishak, 35, who taught at Sekolah Kebangsaan Port Dickson, and Amirul Ayman Mohd Yusoff were found in the toilet of their apartment at 10am.

A colleague, Norhayati Zainuddin, 25, and the apartment manager found them lying on their backs with their hands and legs bound with wires.

Police said a neighbour in the five-storey walk-up flats heard Amirul screaming between 4pm and 5pm on Thursday but did not report the matter to the authorities.

Norliza's husband, Mohd Yusoff Awang Besar, 37, is in Egypt on a business trip.

Norhayati, who had gone shopping with Norliza on Thursday, became suspicious when the two victims did not turn up at the ground floor of their apartment at 8am as they usually did.

"I became worried when they did show up. I tried calling them many times but to no avail. That was when I decided to go to their apartment to check on them."

The teacher said she and the apartment manager broke open the front door and found the mother and son dead.

"Norliza had bought bus tickets to return to her hometown in Kampung Pulau Kerbau, Palekbang, Tumpat, in Kelantan. She was in a very happy mood and I had promised to send them to the bus terminal."

District police chief Superintendent Baljeet Singh said initial investigations revealed that both victims had been dead for several hours before their bodies were found.

"We believe the house was locked when the incident occurred as everything was in order," he said, adding that police were investigating whether robbery was the motive behind the murders.

Baljeet said the apartment block did not have any record of robberies or break-ins.

"We are trying to locate the victim's husband to inform him of the incident," he said.

He said the bodies had been released to family members after the post-mortem at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban.

Norliza's brother-in-law, Mohd Nazmi, 35, a teacher at SMK Bukit Saujana here, said he last spoke to Norliza last week.

Those with information are urged to contact the Port Dickson police headquarters at 06-6462999 or the nearest police station.

In Taiping, a single mother was found dead in her house in Kampung Tebak, Pantai Remis, near here on Thursday.

Esha Rejab, whose hands were tied and mouth stuffed with cloth, had lived alone in the house after the death of her husband, who was a former army personnel.

Her five children stayed elsewhere.

Her body was sent to Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh for a post-mortem.

Taiping district police chief Assistant Commissioner Yusuf Mohd Diah said "a neighbour suspected something was amiss when the woman was not seen outside the house for the whole day".

"The neighbour was shocked to see the victim lying motionless on the floor when she went over to check on her at 4.30pm. Villagers alerted the police immediately."

Initial investigation revealed that there were no injuries on the body.

The house was ransacked and a handphone was missing.

Anyone with information on the case should contact Taiping police at 05-8291222.