British Tourist Found Dead on Greek Island

A British tourist who went missing on holiday on a Greek island three weeks ago has been found dead in a remote area.

Susan Hart, 74, from Bath, was in Telendos with her husband, Ed, when she disappeared on 30 April. Hart could not be found after her husband went rock climbing while she planned to read a book.

On the day that she went missing, Susan Hart and her husband took a ferry from the island of Kalymnos to nearby Telendos for a day excursion.

When they arrived at Telendos, Mr. Hart went rock climbing whilst Mrs. Hart read a book at a restaurant. However, when Mr. Hart returned to the restaurant, Mrs. Hart was nowhere to be seen.

Mrs. Hart is the mother of three daughters who were raised in Bath, but currently reside in Canada, Australia, and London respectively, along with their own families.

One of her daughters, Ruth Landale, said she was identified by her stepfather, and the family was heartbroken. She added that the family is now waiting for her body to be repatriated to Switzerland where she was living.

A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out in Greece.

The family, who are originally from Bath in the United Kingdom, had previously expressed concerns to a British tabloid that Mrs. Hart’s health may have played a role in her disappearance, as she had been showing signs of dementia.

The family had been conducting their own improvised investigation on the Greek island whilst continuing to question the efforts of local authorities to find the British grandmother.

“It’s been a stressful and distressing time for the whole family,” Mrs. Landale told BBC.

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed staff were providing consular assistance to the family and were in contact with local authorities.

The family of Mrs. Hart had questioned how seriously the inquiry is being taken by local officials.

“We were told that CCTV footage of the last time she was seen shows her walking away from the restaurant she was supposed to be at. So we asked; ‘Well, what about on the other side?’” the family told The Mirror.

When the family returned to the police station with John – a local taxi driver who helped them with translations – they were reportedly denied access to the CCTV footage by the police.

“We don’t know why they have directly lied to us. Maybe they wanted us off the island so we would stop bugging them,” the family said to the British tabloid.

Telendos is a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, belonging to the Dodecanese. It is approximately 1 km (0.6 mi) off the coast of the larger island of Kalymnos, of which it is administratively a part.

The island is approximately semi-circular in shape, consisting of a single, steep, flat-top mountain whose sides plunge directly into the sea. The only flat land is at the southern tip of the island, which is where the only settlement is located.