38-year-old British woman found in a suitcase in Athens identified; phone used after her death

Discovery and Identification

The body was discovered on 18 July inside a suitcase in an abandoned building on Evelpidon Street in the Kypseli neighbourhood of Athens. A homeless man alerted authorities after noticing a foul smell and seeing what looked like a human limb.

A human limb is visible.

Forensic examination indicated death had occurred approximately five to six days earlier, although some sources cite an interval of up to eight days before discovery. The advanced state of decomposition complicated the autopsy. Greek authorities could not match the victim’s fingerprints in their national database, so they sent them via Interpol to police forces abroad. A response came from the United States, where the woman had previously worked and where her fingerprints were on file. She was identified as a 38-year-old British national, born in Scotland in February 1988. The British embassy in Athens notified her father, a lawyer living in Edinburgh.

Victim’s Last Days

The woman arrived in Greece on 26 June, flying from Edinburgh, according to later information that corrected an earlier assumption she had travelled via Cyprus. Other accounts still maintain she entered Greece from Cyprus on 29 June after arriving from the United States. Police are verifying the exact route and whether she travelled alone. She stayed at a friend’s house in Athens, and the last confirmed contact with her hosts was on 15 July, after which her traces disappeared.

Investigators are now reconstructing the three-day window between that last contact and the discovery of the body on 18 July. They are examining security camera footage from areas where she may have moved, as well as hotel reservations, communications, and any persons she met during her stay. Officers have also requested passenger data from the airline she used to confirm whether she arrived alone.

The Phone Puzzle

A key element perplexing detectives is the activity on her mobile phone. Greek media report the device continued to emit a signal after the estimated time of death, and messages were sent from it. Authorities suspect someone used the phone to give the impression she was still alive. Shortly after the case was publicised by the press, the phone was switched off and has remained inactive. Police are treating this as a deliberate attempt to mislead the investigation.

Next Steps in the Investigation

No visible injuries, strangulation marks, or fatal skull fractures were found during the initial autopsy. The cause of death remains unclear. Toxicology results, which could reveal the presence of drugs or alcohol, are expected in about a month. Until then, officers from the homicide division are mapping every contact she had in Greece, interviewing witnesses, and gathering electronic traces to determine who she met and whether any of those individuals are connected to her death.