Second adult female corpse found in Mitseros

Another female corpse has been recovered from the mine shaft elevator of an abandoned mine in Mitseros, where the body of a missing Filipina woman was found last week while the search for her little daughter is still ongoing.

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Nicosia law enforcement authorities are scrambling to identify the body of an unknown female, recovered by divers on Saturday afternoon.

The new discovery came almost one week after a decomposed body had been found and later identified as 38-year-old Marry Rose Tiburcio from the Philippines, who was reported as missing last year along with her 6-year-old daughter Sierra Graze Seucalliuc.

Both the unknown female and Marry Rose’s bodies were found naked and bound in a flooded mine shaft elevator, but officials stopped short of saying whether both women had been the victims of a serial killer.

A male suspect, described as a 35-year-old Greek Cypriot military officer, has reportedly confessed to killing Marry Rose while he appeared to have led authorities to another location in Xiliatos, where divers were searching for the body of Sierra Graze in the local reservoir.

Two other suspects in the case have been released from custody, after police dropped charges against them. One of them, a 30-year-old Greek Cypriot man was said to have been serving in the military along with the suspect while a 33-year-old Romanian construction worker, Marry Rose’s ex partner and reportedly the father of the little girl, was released from custody earlier this week.

Authorities have been combing through lists of missing women in the last few days, following media speculation and public criticism that a number of cases may not have been investigated thoroughly.

CID Nicosia director Neophytos Shiaelos did not rule out more bodies being found inside the 130-metre-deep shaft, telling reporters on Saturday that police had a lot of investigative work ahead of them.

The case started to unfold after a friend of Marry Rose was called to identify a mystery female corpse, where she reportedly recognized an earring and dental information unique to the victim. Computer forensics then led to the suspect days later.

The Filipina woman, who shared a flat with the Marry Rose and her daughter, was also the person who reported them as missing on 5 May 2018. She reportedly expressed reservations over Marry Rose taking her daughter to spend the night at the suspect’s house.

Police were criticized for not doing their due diligence following the missing complaint filed almost a year ago, with questions over the lack of investigative work using computer forensics. After the initial disappearance, it was reported that neither Marry Rose could be located nor her daughter or the person with an online social profile that he used to make contact.

Media pundits quickly took to the airwaves and social media asking questions over the initial handling of the disappearance, calling for an internal investigation.