Fundraising appeal for funeral of Finsbury Park murder victim tops £12,000

A crowdfunding appeal in memory of a pub worker who was murdered in a park on Christmas Eve has passed £12,000.

The campaign to raise money for a funeral for Iuliana Tudos, 22, reached its original £4,000 target within 11 hours and by Saturday had raised more than three times that amount.

Ms Tudos, who also called herself Julie, was found dead in Finsbury Park, near her north London home, on Wednesday afternoon, having gone missing on December 24.

She had been stabbed in the abdomen and suffered a head injury.

More than 800 people have so far donated to the appeal, including people who met her at Camden Underworld, the north London rock pub and club where she worked.

Donor Daniel Howard wrote: "I didn't know Juliana but happened to get chatting to her outside the Underworld before a gig only recently and she was really kind and funny.

"My condolences go out to her family and those who were close to her."

Another, Susanne Bayliss, wrote: "We often go to shows at the Underworld and I have been to the pub upstairs often before or after shows.

"I did not know Julie, but maybe she served me a beer or a gin and tonic before ... it feels like we lost one of our own..."

The GoFundMe page was set up by Krystyna Rymarczyk, who wrote: "We would like to help her family to cover funeral expenses in this difficult time for them, this is what we can do for Julie."

Ms Tudos, who police said was of Russian and Greek origin, was last seen by friends at around 8pm on December 24 when she headed for a bus home from Camden.

She was due to meet them at another friend's home in Enfield, north London, later that evening before spending Christmas Day there, but never arrived.

Police said CCTV footage showed her on the periphery of the park shortly after 8.20pm.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to call the dedicated incident room on 020 8785 8244, tweet @MetCC or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.