ATHENS, GREECE - Authorities are investigating after the body of a Scottish woman in her thirties was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Greece.
The body of 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross was reportedly found by a man experiencing homelessness in the Kypseli neighborhood of Athens at noon local time on Saturday, July 18, PEOPLE reported.
The remains were discovered after the man noticed a human leg protruding from the case. After he alerted authorities, police cordoned off the building and a forensic pathologist examined the body. Officials now believe Ross arrived in Greece from the U.S. on June 29 and traveled via Cyprus.
Ross was initially identified through a U.S. biometric database because she had previously worked in the country. U.S. officials then informed Greece. Ross' father told officers his daughter was staying with two friends in Keratsini, a suburb of Athens. The couple and their relatives told police that Ross left the area on Wednesday, July 15, to meet some American friends in Kypseli.
The Homicide Department of the Hellenic Police, Greece's national police force, is working to determine what happened to Ross in the last days of her life as well as whether she traveled to Greece alone and who else she was in contact with during her time in the country.
Investigators believe her last communication with her boyfriend was on July 15, the day she left for Kypseli, while her cellphone continued to emit a signal until the morning of the day her body was found.
"It would seem that someone had control over her [cellphone] after she died and was sending messages to distract the authorities and close friends from trying to track her down," Helena Smith, The Guardian's correspondent in Athens said.
Police are collecting security camera footage from the area, while the suitcase, which did not belong to Ross, could also provide clues if it contains DNA or fingerprints.
"We are aware of the death of a Scottish woman in Athens and are liaising with authorities in Greece,” Police Scotland told PEOPLE. “Officers are providing support to her family in Scotland."
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