Domestic worker reported missing found in Greece

A 26-year-old woman who was reported missing in Larnaca earlier this month was arrested in Greece ten days later, police said on Wednesday.

The domestic worker was reported missing to the police by her employer in Odou village on April 13. Local authorities contacted Interpol after their investigations reached a deadlock.

The woman was eventually found ten days later when she was arrested by Greek authorities after trying to illegally cross the border between North Macedonia and Greece, Interpol told Cyprus police.

It appears the woman fled to Turkey through the non-government-controlled areas from where she went to Skopje and attempted to enter Thessaloniki without the necessary documents before she was arrested.

Police spokeswoman Marina Christodoulou confirmed the woman had been found.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, she explained that many people who are reported missing in the republic might flee the country through the north.

“Police’s efforts to locate missing persons becomes even more difficult in case they cross to the occupied areas,” she said.

Christodoulou also reminded the public that there is no wait period before someone can report a missing person.

Depending on the case, the disappearance will be investigated by the relevant police department, she said.

Meanwhile, authorities established a sub-directorate responsible for the monitoring of cases concerning vulnerable people after some women who were reported missing were later found dead.

Despite signs of foul play, investigators in some cases had brushed off the disappearances as voluntary, suggesting they probably crossed over to the north.

The women later turned out to be victims of serial killer Metaxas who admitted to killing five women and the daughters of two of them after the accidental discovery of the body of one of his victims in April 2019, in a mine shaft at Mitsero.