First body retrieved from red lake

The decomposed body of a woman was retrieved Sunday around 2:30pm form the red lake in Mitseros, Nicosia district, as efforts to locate two more bodies are said to continue most likely on Monday.

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According to official sources, a suitcase with a corpse inside belonging to an adult female was retrieved from the water at the red lake, right across from an old mine shaft in Mitseros where two other bodies were found earlier this month.

Media sources said the body most likely belonged to an adult woman of a certain age, ruling out the possibility that it might have been a child. A cement block was also found inside the suitcase. 

The suspected serial killer in the Mitseros case has so far admitted to killing seven females, all foreign nationals, including two children. But local authorities as well as media have speculated whether there could be more victims.

A second suitace in the same area is expected to be retrieved later, most likely on Monday according to media sources. The location of the third suitcase remains unknown to authorities. 

The search began after a 35-year-old Greek Cypriot army captain was arrested on murder charges and later reportedly confessed. According to the suspect, known by his social media handle Orestis, he dumped three suitcases in the red lake.

The bodies are believed to belong to 36-year-old Livia Florentina Bunea from Romania, her 8-year-old daughter Elena Natalia Bunea, and 30-year-old Maricar Valdez Arquiola from the Philippines. The mother and child were last seen in September 2016, while the Filipina went missing in December 2017.

Suspect confessed seven murders:

- Marry Rose Tiburcio, 38, Philippines (body identified)
- Sierra Graze Seucalliuc, 6, Philippines (missing, feared dead)
- Αrian Palanas Lozano, 28, Philippines (DNA pending)
- Maricar Valdez Arquiola, 30, Philippines (presumed dead)
- Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, Romania (presumed dead)
- Elena Natalia Bunea, 8, Romania (presumed dead)
- Asmita Khadka Bista, 30, Nepal (DNA pending)