Missing UK physicist found ‘crushed by boulder’ in a Greek ravine
Police investigate whether runner fell to her death or was pushed
A BRITISH scientist who went missing on the Greek island of Ikaria was found dead yesterday in a 20-metre deep ravine.
Natalie Christopher, a Londonborn astrophysicist, had been reported missing on Monday by her Cypriot boyfriend after the 35year- old failed to return from a morning run.
She was identified by her 38-year-old partner and was still clothed in her running gear.
Emergency service workers who found her body told the country’s public broadcaster ERT last night that a large rock had dislodged as she fell, crushing her and causing multiple head injuries.
Dr Christopher’s body was being kept overnight in the spot, which is in an area known as Katafygi, so that a coroner can carry out a postmortem examination today.
The body, found by a volunteer firefighter, was said to have bites from wild animals.
The coroner is expected to determine if they occurred before or after her death.
Authorities are exploring the possibility that Dr Christopher slipped into the ravine, which is barely visible from a nearby footpath.
Another theory is that she may have been attempting to climb or descend from a steep point without any equipment in a bid to reach her hotel. Theodoros Chronopoulos, a Greek police spokesman, said: ‘The body was found in a ravine – a small canyon – between 600metres and a kilometre from the hotel where the couple were staying.’
It was too early to tell whether she had fallen into the ravine or had been pushed, Mr Chronopoulos told The Daily Telegraph. ‘We have to await the report from the coroner, which will take two to three days, in order to have the answers,’ he said. ‘ This is crucial. At this point, we don’t know how she died.’
Oxford-educated Dr Christopher, who lives in Nicosia, Cyprus, had been spending a few days in Ikaria with her partner. The keen runner, rock climber and hiker was not in the hotel when her boyfriend awoke on Monday morning, he said. He said he had called her mobile phone and Dr Christopher explained she was running but would take things ‘slowly’ on the rocky terrain. He then became worried when she did not return and there was no response when he rang her phone again.
Before the body had been found, police had begun investigating spots of blood which had been found on Dr Christopher’s pillow in the couple’s hotel room. The linen has been sent to a laboratory in Athens for testing.
Her boyfriend has insisted they came from a nose bleed Dr Christopher had suffered the night before she disappeared.
He remains on the island and his brother and a Spanish friend have flown out to support him.
Police sources said: ‘ He is not a suspect. He has been very co-operative but we are not ruling out anything until the inquiry is concluded.’
Cyprus Trail Runners, which Dr Christopher had been a member of, had crowd-funded thousands of pounds to send a group to the area in the hope of identifying the route she might have taken.
A friend, who was helping to co- ordinate the efforts, said of the latest news: ‘I just can’t speak about it, it’s too distressing.’
Last night, it emerged that searchers passed the point where Dr Christopher, who was originally from Wanstead, east London, had fallen three times – oblivious that her body was lying in the ravine. Rescuers said the scientist’s mobile phone had been ringing beside her body.
‘We are not ruling out anything’