Police in Hong Kong have charged the former in-laws of a model and influencer whose body parts were found in a refrigerator at a village house, with murder.

Hong Kong model Abby Choi’s former father-in-law and his eldest son are being charged with murder, while her former mother-in-law faces one count of perverting the course of justice, police said in a statement on Sunday.

The authorities also arrested the woman’s ex-husband on Saturday and will charge him with murder on Sunday night, said Superintendent Alan Chung. The four will appear in court on Monday.

The grisly case came to light when police officers on Friday discovered Ms Choi’s body after she had been missing for several days, together with her identity card, credit cards and other items.

The body was dissected and the remains stored in a refrigerator in the rural village home in Tai Po, a suburban part of Hong Kong close to the border with mainland China.

At Sunday’s news briefing, Mr Chung said authorities found a young woman’s skull believed to belong to Ms Choi in one of the cooking pots they seized, along with several ribs, hair, and human tissue.

In another pot, forensic pathologists also discovered a small number of human bones, he added.

Mr Chung said Ms Choi was believed to have been attacked in a car and was unconscious when she arrived at the house.

Police were still trying to find out the exact time of death and locate her hands and torso.

On Sunday, police also arrested another woman they believed to be the mistress of the ex-husband’s father for allegedly assisting the other suspects.

Ms Choi, 28, had financial disputes involving tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars with her ex-husband and his family, Mr Chung said, adding that “some people” were unhappy with how Ms Choi handled her financial assets.

Ms Choi was a model and influencer who shared her glamorous life of photo shoots and fashion shows with more than 100,000 followers.

Dressed in a floor-length gown, she had just attended a Dior show at Paris Fashion Week.

Her last post was a week ago, featuring a photoshoot she had done with L’Officiel Monaco, a fashion publication.