HONG KONG, 25 Feb (AFP)- Hong Kong police have made four arrests over the gruesome murder of a 28-year-old model who was dismembered after a financial dispute with her ex-husband's family, authorities said on Saturday (Feb 25).

The partial remains of well-known influencer Abby Choi, who last week appeared on the digital cover of fashion magazine L'Officiel Monaco, were found in a village house set up as a butchery site, police said.

"We are still looking for the head," superintendent Alan Chung told reporters, after disclosing that a woman's limbs had been discovered inside a refrigerator.

The house was equipped with an electric saw and a meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh, Chung said.

"Two pots of stew believed to contain human tissue" were left at the scene, he added.

Choi's ex-husband, a 28-year-old man surnamed Kwong, was arrested for murder Saturday afternoon as he was attempting to flee the city by boat, Chung said.

The man's father, mother and elder brother had been arrested on the same charge a day earlier.

"We believe the victim and her ex-husband's family had many financial disputes involving huge sums," Chung said.

"Someone was dissatisfied with how the victim handled her assets, which became a motive to kill."

Choi was first reported missing on Wednesday.

She was allegedly last seen by her ex-husband's brother, who also worked as her chauffeur. According to the South China Morning Post, the two were believed to be heading to pick up her daughter. She was reported missing after she did not collect the child. 

Police said the family had earlier lied to mislead investigators.

The village house where Choi's remains were found had been recently rented and was unfurnished - suggesting it was set up to dispose of her body, said superintendent Chung. 

According to the Post, Choi's former father-in-law is believed to be the mastermind of the murder as he was unhappy over her handling of a luxury property in the exclusive Kadoorie Hill neighbourhood in Ho Man Tin.

About a hundred police officers were on Saturday combing an area around Tseung Kwan O cemetery suspected to be the dumping ground for some of Choi's remains, Chung said.