DETECTIVES were last night continuing to question a man on suspicion of stabbing his wife to death.

Maria Lakatos – who also used her maiden name of Maria Szarvak – was found with multiple knife wounds at the home they shared in Harcourt Road, Bitterne, Southampton.

The 37-year-old was found unconscious at the semidetached house at 11am on Wednesday, but attempts to revive her failed.

Her husband, with whom she had a young son, was missing for several hours following the killing but is understood to have been arrested in the Milford on Sea area of the New Forest early on Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday detectives applied for extra time from magistrates to continue to hold the 37-year-old man in custody. It’s thought that interviews had been delayed for more than 24 hours to allow medical examinations to take place.

Maria, who came from Szolnok, in Hungary, worked at Boots in Portswood Road, where her colleagues were said to be devastated by what had happened.

Detectives investigating the killing are appealing for anyone with information to contact the Operation Stern team by calling 101.