A body has been found by police searching for a London scientist who vanished on a Greek holiday island.
Police said today that they had discovered a body in a ravine while they scoured an area where Dr Natalie Christopher used to run, around 600 metres from her hotel.
Police, firefighters and coastguard patrols had been joined by volunteers searching for Dr Christopher, 35.
She went missing on the Aegean island of Ikaria where she was on holiday with her Cypriot boyfriend. He reported her missing after she failed to return from a morning jog on Monday.
Police have not formally identified the body but local news outlet Ant1News says the body is that of the missing scientist.
The couple were due to fly back home to Cyprus on Monday before she went missing.
Her boyfriend told Protothema News that when he called her mobile she told him she was running in a rocky part of the island, and promised to be careful.
“I can’t go fast, I’ll be back slowly, don’t worry,” he says she told him.
He said that when he called again later there was no response, and he informed the owner of the hotel who contacted the police.
Naval helicopters equipped with thermal imaging cameras were today called in to scour the rocky landscape.
Friend Hannah Prescott, 37, said Dr Christopher’s last-known movements were in a “remote mountainous area where she was running”, and that they hoped her watch could provide clues as to where she is.
She said: “Natalie was wearing a Suunto Ambit 3 watch when she disappeared, and we’re hoping we could use this to track her. This is now day three and time is crucial.”
Before the body was found, Ms Prescott, a writer and illustrator from Scotland, told the Standard: “Everyone is extremely worried. Where she was running is just the middle of nowhere. We really feel for her boyfriend and friends and family.
“We don’t know what has happened. She is a very experienced trail runner.”
She added: “She is just the most friendly, kindest person. She does so much community work and trying to help the conflict in Cyprus. It is very worrying.”
Dr Christopher, a renowned astrophysicist, has conducted research at the European University Cyprus in the Astrophysics and High Performance Computing group.
She also launched the "Cyprus Girls Can" campaign to encourage women and girls of all ages to get more involved in sport.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are assisting the family of a British woman reported missing in Ikaria, and are in contact with the Greek authorities who are conducting the search for her.”
