Greek police expand search for Natalie

Police investigators are testing DNA and trying to decipher mobile phone signals in Natalie Christopher’s disappearance, the British woman who went missing on a Greek island while on vacation with her Cypriot boyfriend.

Natalie, a 34-year-old British scientist living in Cyprus, was reported missing after noon Monday, when her 38-year-old boyfriend told police she had gone jogging in Kerame, Ikaria. The couple had been spending vacation time on the Greek island since August 3 and they were scheduled to fly back to Cyprus on Monday afternoon.

Over land and water

Multiple searches are ongoing in an effort to locate Natalie, with volunteer fire fighters and others joining the effort. So far, according to local media, nothing has been found while the search is said to have expanded both over land and water.

Crime detectives, who joined the search on Tuesday according to Hellenic Police, were said to have found blood stains that were initially described as nosebleed on Natalie’s pillow. Police also found blood-stained tissue paper in the bathroom of the couple's hotel room, while Natalie’s boyfriend reportedly said her nose had been bleeding. It was not immediately clear whether the blood was believed to have been self-induced, such as irritation, or the result of trauma.

The housekeeping maid also said she had noticed the blood stains on the pillow in the morning while hotel management, according to reports, said the maid heard screams the night before coming from the couple's room.

“I heard some shouting going on the night before. Upon checking the room I realized there was a bed sheet on the sofa, which leads me to believe the couple had slept in separate beds,” she told police.

In addition to DNA test results expected on Wednesday, police are also closing in on Natalie’s mobile phone signal. Her phone appears to have shut down on Monday afternoon but there was a turn on signal again on Tuesday morning.

Natalie was said to have answered her phone on Monday morning, according to statements the boyfriend had made to police, telling investigators he called her after waking up around 10am and she said she had gone out jogging. It was not fully clear whether the communication was said to have been verbal or through written text messages. He then called back twice later without getting an answer he told cops.

Additional findings in the case pointed to different phone signals due to multiple cell phone towers tracking Natalie’s phone from different locations from nearby islands.

Reports also said technical consultations from Cyprus were assisting in determining which methods were to be used to triangulate the location of Natalie’s phone or last phone signal spot. According to Sigmalive, advice to turn off a cell phone antenna at Fournoi, where there was a known signal for Natalie’s phone, has helped focus on other areas as investigators are trying to figure out a specific path that could shed light to the case.