Final victim of Cyprus serial killer is found at the bottom of a lake as six-year-old girl’s remains are discovered tied to a cement block
- The six-year-old girl is believed to be Sierra Grace, the killer’s youngest victim
- Greek army captain Nicos Metaxas, 35, allegedly confessed to killings in April
- Girl was wrapped in a white sheet and tied to a cement block 20ft underwater
- The discovery of the girl ends the two-month long search for the dead in Cyprus
The final victim of the Cyprus serial killer has been found at the bottom of a lake, as a six-year-old girl’s remains were discovered tied to a cement block.
The discovery on Wednesday, believed to be six-year-old Sierra Grace, brings an end to the search that began when an army captain allegedly confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls on April 25.
Nicos Metaxas, 35, has been dubbed Cyprus’ first serial killer by local media and met several of his suspected victims through internet chat rooms.
Fire Department Chief Marcos Trangolas told The Associated Press that the girl’s remains, wrapped in a bed sheet and tied by rope to a cement block, were found among reeds 20ft down the lake that was part of a former copper pyrite mine.
Police officials stand next to a tent where divers brought what is believed to be remains of a 6-year-old girl, near the village of Xiliatos, Cyprus on Wednesday
Police officials carry a stretcher away from the lake in Cyrpus on Wednesday – it brings the two-month long search for seven victims to a close
Nicos Metaxas, dubbed ‘the first serial killer of Cyprus’, is due to appear in court on Friday after he allegedly confessed to the killings
Mary Rose Tiburcio, 38 (left) was discovered on April 14 at a mine-shaft, while her six-year-old daughter Sierra is believed to have been discovered on Wednesday
He said divers had searched the exact spot where the 35-year-old suspect pointed to investigators earlier Wednesday while on site.
Police have said they’ve found no evidence to suggest the suspect has killed anyone else, but investigators are still trying to track down anyone who had been in contact with him online.
The army officer, who police haven’t formally identified yet, had been in contact with several of his victims through online chat rooms.
He is widely acknowledged to be Cyprus’ first serial killer.
The chance discovery of the body of Sierra Grace’s mother, Mary Rose Tiburcio, 38, down a flooded mineshaft on April 14 triggered an investigation that led to the suspect through his online communications with the Filipino woman with whom he had had a six-month relationship.
Maricar Valtez Arquiola, 31 (left) and Arian Palanos Lozano, 28, (right) – have been named by Cypriot media as victims
The body of Arian Palanas Lozano, 28, also from the Philippines, was found down the same shaft six days later.
The killings took place over two years starting in September 2016 with the disappearance of 36-year-old Romanian Livia Florentina Bunea, and her 8-year-old daughter Elena Natalia.
Their bodies were found inside suitcases at the bottom of a toxic lake that was part of another copper pyrite mine.
Another body, believed to belong to Ahita Khadka Bista from Nepal, was found down a dry well in a military firing range.
Cypriot media say the soldier is also suspected of killing Romanian mother Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, (left) and her eight-year-old daughter Elena Natalia (right) who went missing in 2016
The suspect is due to appear in court Friday, but it’s unclear whether investigators will ask for another custody extension or formally charge him.
Bunea and her daughter will be buried Thursday in a village outside the capital Nicosia.
The Cyprus government has said it will cover the funeral and burial expenses of all the victims, following public outcry at perceived incompetence by investigators.