Afghan national, 26, is arrested after body of British woman found in Athens suitcase

By VIVEK CHAUDHARY, SENIOR REPORTER Published: 15:55, 2 August 2026 | Updated: 15:55, 2 August 2026 Greek police have charged a man with the murder of a British woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Athens. Elisabeth Jane Ross, 38 who was also known as Lisa, was discovered inside a suitcase by a homeless man in an abandoned carpark in the Kypseli district of Athens on 18 July. The man arrested is reported to be a 26-year-old Afghan national who confessed to the killing. He is believed to have met Ms Ross through her work helping refugees and homeless people. He was detained at an address in central Athens with police revealing that he had withdrawn money using Ms Ross’s bank cards after the killing, which helped them to track his movements. Her body was discovered on 18 July, three days after telling Greek friends she was staying with outside Athens that she was going to Kypseli to visit American friends. Police said in a statement that the man had been charged with murder, robbery and weapons offences. The statement added: ‘A 26-year-old foreign national has been identified in connection with the case; a criminal file has been opened against him for intentional homicide, robbery, and violations of weapons legislation.’ Police revealed that fingerprint evidence was discovered on the suitcase while CCTV showed the man carrying it to the abandoned car park. The statement continued: ‘He was brought to the Division's headquarters on Thursday, July 30, 2026, and confessed to his actions. ‘It was established that the 26-year-old placed the body in a suitcase and transported it to the abandoned site. Furthermore, in the days that followed, he used the victim's bank cards to withdraw cash. ‘During searches conducted at his residence, a replica pistol and a knife were found and seized; consequently, he was arrested for violating the law on weapons.’ Police are investigating the death of Elizabeth-Jane Ross, 38, after her body was found inside a suitcase in Athens, Greece on July 18 The derelict space where the suitcase containing Ms Ross's body was found (pictured)  Your browser does not support iframes. Ms Ross, a committed Christian had been regularly visiting Greece for the past seven years working with organisations helping refugees and other vulnerable groups. She arrived in Athens on June 26 and was staying with Greek friends in the suburb of Keratsini, close to the country's main seaport. However, she then told them on July 15 she was leaving to stay with Americans she knew in Kypseli – a more central part of Athens and was discovered dead 72 hours later. It has emerged that Ms Ross had regularly volunteered with the One Heart organisation in Greece which specialises in providing medical support to refugees, particularly those from Afghanistan or Iran. Following the discovery of her body, the police investigation focused on questioning those she may have met through this work, with officers claiming that her killer may have been someone she tried to help. She was seen speaking with homeless people in Kypseli after arriving in the area. It is understood the killer continued to send messages from Ms Ross’s phone and posted on her Facebook page after her death in an attempted cover up. One text from her mobile on July 15 to a Greek friend read: 'I need some time – I'm going to a Greek island.' Messages to her family claimed that she 'needed some time to herself' and that she 'wanted to be alone for a while'. It was then 'mysteriously' switched off as her death was reported across the globe. Ms Ross's father, a lawyer from Edinburgh, told officers he had been receiving messages from July 15 to July 29. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.