Former health minister Els Borst died on February 8, two days before her body was found by a friend, police told a television crime show on Tuesday evening.

In addition, police have confirmed Borst was killed and her death is not the result of an accident. Her body was found by a friend in the garage of her home in Bilthoven on February 10.

The minister, who was 81, was last seen at the D66 party political congress on Saturday and then drove home.

Police are now looking for a woman in a red coat with a red headscarf seen in the street where she lived at around 19.30. The woman could be an important witness, police told the crime show.

The crime show appeal led to 20 tips about the case, news agency ANP said.