A man has been arrested after a woman’s body was found inside a suitcase in a derelict building in a major city known for its tourism.
A homeless man made the shocking discovery on July 18 inside an abandoned building in Kypseli, an area in Athens popular among foreign nationals, and contacted police.
Elisabeth-Jane Ross’ body was located around 1pm, and showed no obvious injuries, according to Greek media, with another Greek publication adding that the body, which was wrapped in cloth, had already begun decomposing when it was found.
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The building has reportedly been derelict for at least two years.
The woman had no identification on her when she was found and it is believed she had been dead for five to seven days.
When local police were unable to match the fingerprints of the body, they contacted Interpol for assistance.
Eleven days later, she was identified as Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a 38-year-old Scottish woman.
Ms Ross had arrived in Greece on June 26 and was initially staying with friends before she planned to meet other friends in Athens.
Two days after Ms Ross was publicly identified, a 26-year-old man from Afghanistan was brought in for questioning by Greek homicide detectives.
He has allegedly “confessed to his actions”, according to the BBC.
Police claim the man had transported Ms Ross’ body to the abandoned building and withdrawn money from Ms Ross’ accounts.
“A criminal file has been opened against a 26-year-old foreign national for intentional homicide, robbery and violation of the law (regarding) weapons,” they said, in a statement published by The Guardian.
During searches of his home, “various arms – some real, some fake” were located.
He is expected to be charged on Monday.
A source told the publication that his use of Ms Ross’ bank cards had played a role in his identification.
“He was caught on camera withdrawing money with the cards from various ATMs,” they said.
“The credit cards belonged to Ms Ross. That played a big role in leading us to him.”
Police earlier revealed that Ms Ross’ phone had been used up until she was publicly identified.
Messages sent to family and friends in a ploy believed to make them believe she was still alive.
Police described the contents of some of those messages, saying the sender had spoken of Ms Ross’ “need to be alone”.
The 26-year-old suspect was allegedly found in possession of the keys to Ms Ross’ apartment and he was “the partner” of one of her friends.
Ms Ross, who had strong links with charities in Greece, has been described as “an angel full of innocence and goodness” by friends who spoke to The Guardian.
“We have lost an angel, an angel full of innocence and goodness who only wanted to help people wherever she went,” a friend from Edinburgh said.
Flowers and notes have been laid at the site of the building where her body was found.
Investigations into the cause of Ms Ross’ death are ongoing and toxicological tests have been fast-tracked.
