Elizabeth-Jane Ross, a 38-year-old charity worker from Edinburgh, had reportedly been seen talking to homeless people in Athens days before her body was discovered stuffed inside a suitcase, as Greek detectives investigate whether she was killed by someone she knew while trying to help them.
Greek police are investigating the death of Elizabeth-Jane Ross, a 38-year-old humanitarian worker from Edinburgh whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned car park in the Kypseli district of Athens on 18 July. Known to friends as Lisa, Ms Ross had reportedly been seen speaking with homeless people near the derelict site in the days before she died, fuelling speculation that she may have been killed by someone she had been trying to help. Police believe she was killed by someone she knew, though they have not yet established the nature of that relationship.
A life dedicated to helping others
Ms Ross was a committed Christian who had spent years travelling to help vulnerable groups, including abused women, migrants and refugees, and is understood to have visited Greece regularly over the past seven years to support marginalised communities there, including people experiencing homelessness. Her charitable work had previously taken her as far as Kurdistan, where she assisted Syrian refugees. Friends and relatives have described her as someone who frequently travelled alone for humanitarian and charitable causes, often volunteering with vulnerable communities in different countries.
How her body was found
Ms Ross’s body was discovered by a homeless man in an abandoned car park in Kypseli, an area where people are known to sleep rough, drink alcohol and take drugs. According to reports, the suitcase was only opened after the man who spotted it threw it in an attempt to get it open, causing a leg to become visible. An initial examination found no obvious wounds or outward signs of a struggle, and further reports indicate that strangulation and head injuries have since been ruled out as causes of death. A post-mortem examination likewise found no obvious external injuries, prompting forensic pathologists to carry out additional toxicology and laboratory testing in an effort to establish the exact cause of death.
Piecing together her final days
Ms Ross had arrived in Athens from Edinburgh on 26 June and was staying with Greek friends in Keratsini, the city’s main seaport district. On 15 July, she told those friends she was leaving to travel to Kypseli, a more central part of the capital. She was found dead 72 hours later, and police are now working to reconstruct exactly what happened during that window. Investigators believe her body was brought to the abandoned building on 17 July, and detectives now suspect the suitcase was moved after her death, raising the possibility that the killing took place elsewhere before her body was dumped at the site where it was found.
The search for a man known as “Markos”
Greek police are attempting to locate a homeless man known locally as Markos, who is known to frequent the Kypseli area and has a reputation for carrying a knife and behaving aggressively towards women. He is described as around 40 years old, heavily tattooed, with black hair and a stocky build, and had regularly slept rough at the same derelict site where Ms Ross’s body was found. He has not been seen in the area since the discovery, prompting a citywide search by police.
Signs of an attempted cover-up
Officials are investigating whether messages were sent from Ms Ross’s phone, and posts made to her Facebook account, after her death, in what may have been an attempt to conceal what had happened. Her father, a lawyer from Edinburgh, has told officers he received messages purportedly from his daughter between 15 and 29 July, a period that extends well beyond when she is believed to have died. Investigators are examining whether this activity was intended to delay concern being raised over her welfare and create the impression that she was still alive.
Forensic and digital lines of inquiry
Greek police have set up a dedicated homicide investigation team tasked with reconstructing Ms Ross’s final movements using CCTV footage, witness interviews and mobile phone records. Forensic teams are examining the suitcase itself for fingerprints, DNA, fibres and other trace evidence that might identify whoever transported or handled it. Investigators are also considering whether more than one person was involved, given that moving a large, heavy suitcase containing a body would likely have been difficult for a single individual; officers believe the case’s weight suggests whoever moved it was staying in or around Kypseli. Analysts are additionally reviewing mobile phone location data and financial transactions in an effort to establish where Ms Ross travelled after leaving her friends’ home and whether she met anyone in the period before her death.
Police have appealed to anyone who saw Ms Ross in the Kypseli area between 15 and 18 July to come forward with information. While authorities have not ruled out robbery as a possible motive, they say there is currently no evidence pointing conclusively toward any specific motive. Investigators believe the case may ultimately hinge on digital evidence, including phone records, CCTV footage and social media activity, to help identify who Ms Ross came into contact with during her final days in Athens. British consular officials are supporting her family and liaising with Greek authorities as the investigation continues.
