A South Lantau resident and her partner are today mourning the death of her daughter, a British Embassy worker who was murdered in Beirut two days ago.

Rebecca Dykes, 30, was found dead beside a freeway outside the city on Saturday, apparently abducted and strangled, the BBC reported.

Rebecca had been working in the UK Embassy since January as a programme and policy manager for the Department for International Development.

Rebecca grew up in Hong Kong and graduated from the University of Manchester. She earned a masters in International Security and Global Governance before joining the DFID seven years ago

Her family said in a statement: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened. We request that the media respect our privacy.”

Rebecca’s mother, author Jane Houng, posted on Facebook today:

RIP Rebecca Dykes 1987-2017
It’s true. My beautiful daughter was gruesomely murdered in Beirut last Saturday. Please send prayers to her, and respect the privacy of our family during this time. Thank you.

UPDATE: An Uber driver has confessed to Rebecca’s murder, the Guardian has reported.