British astrophysicist, 34, vanishes while out jogging alone during holiday with her boyfriend in Greek island sparking a huge manhunt
- Dr Natalie Christopher, 34, went missing on Monday on Greek island of Ikaria
- Christopher, an astrophysicist, was reported missing by her 38-year-old Cypriot partner after failing to return from an early-morning jog
- He last spoke to her by phone as she jogged up a hill, saying she would be careful
- Police, fire crews and coast guard are now scouring the rocky coastline for her
A British astrophysicist has gone missing on a Greek holiday island while on holiday with her Cypriot partner.
Dr Natalie Christopher, 34, who was born in London but now lives in Cyprus, vanished on the Aegean island of Ikaria on Monday morning.
Her partner, 38, told local media she had gone out for a jog at 8am ahead of their flight home, and that he called her at 9.30am and she answered.
Dr Natalie Christopher, 34, who was born in London but now lives in Cyprus, went missing on the Greek island of Ikaria while out jogging on Monday morning
He told Protothema News that she told him that she was jogging up a hill in a rocky part of the island, and promised that she would be careful.
‘I can’t go fast, I’ll be back slowly, don’t worry,’ he claims she told him.
But when she hadn’t returned by 11am he got worried and informed the landlord of the property the couple were renting, who then called police.
The landlord said that the woman’s phone was ringing, but nobody was picking up.
He described Christopher and her partner as ‘a nice little couple’ and said there had been no signs of strife between the pair.
Her 38-year-old partner, who was on holiday with her, called police around 12.40pm to report her missing after she failed to return and he could not get through to her phone
The Greek island of Ikaria (pictured) is located 10 nautical miles south west of Samos and is named after the Greek legend of Icarus. Kerame beach (not pictured above) is where the focus of the manhunt is taking place with the mountainous areas being of interest to the police. Natalie Christopher had been running up a rocky hill when she last spoke to her partner
There is a large scale operation currently taking place in Ikaria to find Christopher.
Local reports say that the mountainous region of Kerame is being focused on with police officers, fire services and the coast guard joining forces to comb the rocky landscape.
Last month an American scientist called Suzanne Eaton was raped and murdered in Crete, which a local man has confessed to.