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Police hunt for Cyprus serial murder victims

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Dylan Collins, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/reuters/04/28/hunt.jpg"/><figcaption>Forensics officers search Kokkinopezoula lake, also known as &quot;red lake&quot;, for possible bodies of victims of a suspected serial killer near the village of Mitsero, Cyprus, April 27, 2019. Stefanos Kouratzis, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>XYLIANTOS, Cyprus -- Cypriot authorities on Friday combed lakes for the remains of more victims dumped by a suspected serial killer, as they hunted for bodies in a case that has shocked the island.The search focused on 2 lakes southwest of Nicosia where the suspect, named in local media as Nicos Metaxas, a 35-year-old Greek Cypriot army officer, allegedly confessed to having dumped the bodies.The suspect has admitted to killing 7 foreign women and underage girls on the Mediterranean holiday island, according to police sources. Since April 14 police have recovered 3 bodies, all believed to be Filipina domestic workers, in what local media has dubbed Cyprus&#x27; &quot;first serial killings&quot;.One of them was retrieved Thursday after the suspect showed investigators the spot where he had dumped a body in a well at an army firing range outside the capital.The stepped-up search at the lakes -- water-filled craters of former mines now normally used as picnic sites in the foothills of the Troodos mountains -- coincided with the day that Greek Cypriots mark the Orthodox Good Friday.Police cordoned off the area and a sole diver entered Memi Lake in Xyliantos, descending into the emerald-green water.&quot;We are searching step-by-step,&quot; fire department spokesman Andreas Kettis told AFP.<div>RISING WATERS </div>The mines-turned-lakes are swollen after record rainfall in Cyprus this winter, posing an extra challenge for investigators.At a second crime site at Red Lake in Mitsero, a 10-minute drive away, Kettis said robotic equipment might also be sent in to search its acidic waters.The case came to light after a German tourist taking photographs of the mine spotted the first body, brought to the surface of the 150-meter (500-foot) shaft which flooded after unusually heavy rains.The suspect reportedly met the Filipinas, through Badoo, an online dating site.Police are still searching for the body of a six-year-old Filipina girl, daughter of one of the murdered women, according to local media.They are also probing the cases of a missing Romanian mother and her young daughter as well as unidentified Asian woman also on the list of Metaxas&#x27;s suspected victims.<div>&#x27;WHERE ARE THEY?&#x27; </div>Growing outrage over the murders pushed some 400 people to gather outside the iron gates of the presidential palace in Nicosia Friday evening for a candle-lit vigil -— both for the dead and those still missing.Holding placards calling for &quot;justice&quot;, the crowd held an extended moment of silence, closing down the main road in front of the gates as Cypriots and members of island&#x27;s sizable Filipino community continued to pour in.Organizers used a loudspeaker to read a list of names of dozens of women believed to have gone missing in Cyprus since the 1990s.&quot;Where are they?&quot; the crowd chorused after each name.Holding an unlit candle, head of the Federation of Filipino Organizations in Cyprus Ester Beatty said the community &quot;was still coming to terms&quot; with the &quot;brutal&quot; murders.&quot;Right now everyone is very scared,&quot; she said, urging &quot;vigilance&quot; among the community.President Nicos Anastasiades in a statement condemned &quot;these hideous crimes&quot; against foreign women.&quot;Shocked by the revelation of so many shameful murders against innocent foreign women and young children,&quot; the president said, expressing &quot;deepest sorrow and strong concern&quot;.At the vigil, Lissa Jataas, who heads a solidarity group for domestic workers in Cyprus, said the saga has been &quot;devastating&quot; for the entire Filipino community.Activist Maria Mappouridou, who put out the call for the protest yesterday on Facebook, said the deaths should serve as a wake-up call for usually quiet island.&quot;This is big. The women have been missing for years and no one has been asking where they&#x27;ve been,&quot; the 43-year-old said. &quot;Someone has to take responsibility for this.&quot;

Cypriot authorities on Friday combed lakes for the remains of more victims dumped by a suspected serial killer, as they hunted for bodies in a case that has shocked the island.

Cypriot authorities on Friday combed lakes for the remains of more victims dumped by a suspected serial killer, as they hunted for bodies in a case that has shocked the island.

Police hunt for Cyprus serial murder victims

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Police hunt for Cyprus serial murder victims

Dylan Collins,

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 28, 2019 09:01 AM PHT

Read More:

Cyprus

crime

serial killer

investigation

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