One of the women who died in a suspected double suicide pact in Putney spent most of her life on the run from her own family, a relative has claimed.

Chemaine Chevlene, also known as Riley Lison-Taylor, was formally identified by police on Tuesday – nearly three weeks after her body was discovered by police, alongside that of Jaime Perlman in a flat, in Lower Richmond Road, Putney.

On Monday, a close family member of 33-year-old Chemaine – who asked not to be identified while investigations were taking place – told the Wandsworth Guardian: “She left home at an early age.

“Her parents were trying to reach her for many years and my sister said every time she got close to her she would move again. Chemaine moved away and lived in boarding homes for a while.

“The family never knew what line of work she was in or where she was.

“Chemaine just did not want to be in touch with anyone – she just left the family.”

Police were quick to suggest the pair died of “chemical poisoning” after the gruesome find on September 30 – but have been slow to release information once the Independents Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) revealed it was investigating cases of police conduct relating to the women before their deaths.

In the past week, it emerged a sex crimes detective, who investigated a harassment case involving 37-year-old Ms Perlman, had been suspended amid claims he faked letters to victims.

Detective Constable Ryan Coleman-Farrow was suspended days before Ms Perlman, from Kingston, was found dead, and is now being investigated over his dealings with Ms Perlman along with claims of irregularities in about 30 of his cases.

According to the IPCC, both women, who were thought to be sex workers, had made unrelated reports of harassment to police in the years before their deaths – Miss A [Chevlene] in May 2008 and Miss B [Perlman] in January 2009.

IPCC commissioner for London, Deborah Glass, said: “Both women raised concerns about how the police handled their reports of harassment, and we are examining whether the officers involved did what would be reasonably expected of them.

“We are also carrying out a further investigation, looking into a number of other cases handled by the officer in Miss B’s case.”

A police spokesman said the deaths, which are being investigated by the Met’s homicide and serious crime command unit, were still being treated as “unexplained”.