An American biologist who was found dead in Greece was suffocated, said police in an update on July 10.
Dr. Suzanne Eaton’s body was found in a tunnel network in Crete on Monday night, reported local news outlet Star.gr and the Daily Mail. Medical examiners revealed that she was stabbed, suffocated, and mutilated, the two reports said.
Authorities on the Greek island of Crete have reportedly found the body of an American scientist who disappeared last week while attending a conference on the island https://t.co/FfHSA3GTvt pic.twitter.com/Nxwp8hWPvS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 9, 2019
Police in Greece told CBS News that she was suffocated in a “criminal act.”
Antonis Papadomanolakis told The Associated Press Wednesday that final confirmation was still needed to confirm the identity of the body found Monday outside the port city of Chania, but he added it was highly likely it was Suzanne Eaton, a 59-year-old molecular biologist, who was reported missing last week.
“The only thing we can say is that the (death) resulted from a criminal act,” the coroner said. “We can’t give out any other details because there is an ongoing police investigation.”
MOTHER’S MYSTERY DEATH: The body of 59-year-old American scientist Suzanne Eaton was discovered in a World War II bunker on the Greek Island of Crete a week after she vanished. @JamesAALongman reports. https://t.co/6AzQjMTDCl pic.twitter.com/6xmxBxIUYo
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) July 10, 2019
Eaton, who worked at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, had been attending a conference in Crete.
Missing American scientist Suzanne Eaton found dead in abandoned WWII bunker in Greece. https://t.co/Imd35SQ1Jw pic.twitter.com/bf7jgccn9h
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 10, 2019
The police said officers from Athens including homicide detectives had traveled to the island to head the investigation.
Papadomanolakis said he believed the woman died around the time she was last seen, on July 2.
Authorities had launched a major search for Eaton in rural areas near Chania, helped by members of her family and fire service rescuers from Athens.
“We showed respect for her remains which were found in a tunnel,” Fire Service rescue team leader Nikolaos Papaleonidas said.
“The recovery operation was not difficult but it followed an extensive search effort. The tunnel was about 100 meters (yards) from a rural road.”
Family Speaks
Her niece, Callie Broaddus, told People magazine that her family didn’t “have any leads save for what we’ve already posted on Facebook,” adding that she traveled from the United States to help search for the woman.
“The Greek government has been incredibly supportive and sent in a whole armada to help find Suzanna,” said Broaddus. “We’ve been joined by so many volunteer groups and people flying drones, people coming out to search in their spare time and taking out their own boats—even planes as well. It seems like everyone in Crete knows.”
On Tuesday morning, the Facebook page “Searching for Suzanne” wrote: “We cannot comment on anything at this time, but I will post a message here when the time is appropriate.”
“Due to the rough terrain and extreme heat, we believe the most likely possibility is that Suzanne may have either become overheated and looked for shade or that she may have fallen,” said a Facebook post on the page.
The Associated Press and Epoch Times Reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
