A volatile homeless man known for carrying a knife and being aggressive towards women has emerged as a key suspect in the murder of a British woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Greece.
The body of Elizabeth-Jane Ross, 38, was discovered by a vagrant stuffed into a travel bag in an abandoned car park in Athens.
Ms Ross was a committed Christian and it’s believed she may have been in an area known for homelessness for compassionate reasons linked to her faith.
She is believed to have regularly visited Greece over seven years to work for a number of NGOs helping vulnerable social groups including abused women and migrants – and is also thought to have been moved by the plight of the homeless.
And it’s suggested she may have deliberately misled friends in Athens about her movements because she knew they would be worried if she told them she was going to be trying to help homeless people.
Greek police are desperately trying to find a man named ‘Markos’ who haunts the Kypseli district of Athens, where Ms Ross, known to friends as Lisa, remains were discovered.
Markos regularly slept rough in the derelict space where the suitcase was found but has not been seen there since it became a crime scene – sparking a citywide manhunt.
He is described as aged around 40, heavily tattooed with black hair and a stocky build.
Elisabeth Jane Ross was found dead with her body stuffed inside a suitcase in Athens, Greece
Greek police are desperately trying to find a man named ‘Markos’. He regularly slept rough in the derelict space where the suitcase was found but has not been seen there since it became a crime scene. Pictured: The abandoned building where Ms Ross was found
Ms Ross, from Edinburgh, is thought to have travelled to Greece from Edinburgh via Cyprus in late June, and went missing on 15 July.
The 38-year-old’s body was found three days later – and it subsequently emerged that her phone had continued to be used after her death.
Police have been questioning residents, shopkeepers and other homeless people around Kypseli in recent days.
And the Mail has learned that their search is now focused on Markos, a known heavy drinker and drug user with a reputation for being aggressive and threatening particularly towards women.
People living in Kypseli say it is widely known that Markos attempted to rape a Bulgarian tourist at knifepoint as she walked through the abandoned car park while taking a short cut home following a night out earlier this year.
A Greek police source said that this suggestion is being explored by detectives investigating the murder of Ms Ross but insist it had not been reported at the time, and they only became aware of it during their investigation in recent days.
The source added: ‘We have a lead on a homeless man. We want to question a particular individual, but we are also looking for a number of other people as part of this investigation.’
Hamid Reza, one of the homeless community in Kypseli, revealed that he was questioned for several hours by police searching for Markos.
Local outlets released a photo of the 38-year-old, as investigations are ongoing to determine her cause of death
Mr Reza, 67, who sleeps outside a row of shops close to the abandoned car park where the macabre discovery was made, told the Daily Mail: ‘The police told me and many others that Markos is their number one suspect.
‘They want to find and question him very quickly. They have been asking a lot of people and driving around the area looking for him.
‘Everybody knows that Markos carries a knife, and local women are scared of him. He was always around this area, even living in the car park, but nobody has seen him since the body was discovered.’
He added: ‘There is a Bulgarian lady who walks past me on the way to work every morning and he tried to attack her once when she was walking past the building after she had been out late one night at 3am. .
‘She told me he came at her with a knife and tried to have sex with her, but she was able to get away.’
A local business owner said: ‘The police came into my shop asking for CCTV and if I had seen Markos. But there’s been no sighting of him since the body of this British woman was found.
‘He’s known to be a dangerous individual and women do not feel safe being near him. I’m not saying he’s done anything wrong for sure but it’s strange that Markos has not been seen for many days now.’
Officers are continuing to piece together Ms Ross’ movements over a crucial 72-hour period prior to the discovery of her remains.
They have established she was staying with Greek friends in the Keratsini district, the country’s main seaport close to the city.
However, she then told them on July 15 she was leaving to stay with Americans she knew in Kypseli – a more central part of Athens.
Police have cleared the Greek group of any wrongdoing, with their efforts targeted on tracing the Americans.
But having failed to find them, police are now questioning whether these friends actually exist.
A police spokesperson said: ‘We do not yet know who the people she visited (in Kypseli) are, nor whether they are Americans or if they even exist.
‘We are trying to find out where she went and who she stayed with.’
One theory is that she cited American friends to reassure friends that she would be safe: ‘The victim may well have warned not to be alone,’ the spokesman said.
Officials are also investigating whether the killer sent messages from Ms Ross’s phone after her death in an attempted cover-up.
The initial examination of the body showed no obvious injuries or signs of struggle, while no identification was found on her
One text on July 15 to a Greek friend read: ‘I need some time – I’m going to a Greek island.’
Messages to her family claimed that she ‘needed some time to herself’ and that she ‘wanted to be alone for a while’.
Investigators say the phone, which is still missing, was active in the Athens area until just before Ms Ross was formally identified on Wednesday.
It was then ‘mysteriously’ switched off as her death was reported across the globe.
Ms Ross’ father, a lawyer from Edinburgh, told officers he had been receiving messages from July 15 to July 29.
One Greek officer said: ‘The phone was being used. Text messages were even sent, obviously with a view to making people believe she was still alive.’
Police believe her body was brought to the abandoned building on July 17. It is thought that due to the weight of the suitcase, the killer or killers are likely to have been staying in or around Kypseli.
It was only discovered after a homeless man spotted the suitcase and then threw it in an attempt to open it, leading to a leg popping out.
The cause of death has still not been confirmed, but an initial examination of the body showed no obvious wounds or signs of struggle. According to reports an examination has ruled out strangulation and head injuries.
Greek authorities, who described the victim as around 5ft 4in with reddish hair tied in a bun, wearing black shorts and a T-shirt, initially took fingerprints but found no match in the national database.
Her identity was finally confirmed by the Interpol office in America, which informed the Hellenic Police that the body belongs to Ms Ross.
