A horrific discovery inside a derelict building in downtown Athens has triggered an intensive international investigation. Greek authorities are treating the case with extreme urgency.
When a homeless man noticed a foul smell coming from an abandoned property on Evelpidon Street in the Kypseli district on July 18, he had no idea what lay inside. Investigators found the body of 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross—originally from the Edinburgh area in Scotland—stuffed into a suitcase.
Right now, Greek homicide detectives are waiting on critical toxicology reports to determine whether foul play caused her death. But the physical evidence at the scene left more questions than answers.
The Timeline and the Missing Pieces
Investigators believe Ms Ross died roughly five to seven days before the suitcase was finally discovered. Her journey to Greece began weeks earlier. Flight logs and travel records show she arrived in the country on June 29, traveling from the United States via Cyprus.
Initially, she stayed with friends in Keratsini, a suburb southwest of central Athens. Later, she moved into the capital to meet American acquaintances in Kypseli.
Police hit a wall initially because the body carried no immediate identification. Local databases yielded zero results when officers ran her fingerprints. Breakthrough status only arrived after Interpol cross-referenced biometric data with records in the United States, where Ms Ross had previously lived and worked.
Who Was Controlling Her Phone?
The most chilling aspect of the ongoing investigation involves her mobile device. Law enforcement sources indicate that someone kept using Ms Ross's phone after she died.
Text messages continued to ping out from her device in what investigators describe as a deliberate attempt to throw family members and authorities off the scent. Detectives are currently mapping digital footprints to trace exactly where the phone traveled during the critical window following her death.
Controlling a dead person's phone requires physical access and calculated intent. That detail alone shifted the police perspective immediately from a suspicious sudden death to a full-blown criminal inquiry.
What Happens Next
An initial medical examination revealed no obvious external trauma or signs of a struggle on the body or the suitcase itself. That absence of visible violence makes the upcoming toxicology results completely make-or-break for the case.
Police Scotland is actively liaising with Greek authorities, while the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides consular support to the victim's grieving family. Detectives are pouring over local CCTV footage, checking airline passenger manifests, and interviewing anyone who crossed paths with her during her final weeks in Athens.
The answers depend entirely on what the laboratory tests reveal next.
