Foreign National, 26, Arrested After British Woman Found Dead In Suitcase In Athens

Elisabeth-Jane Ross a British woman whose body was woman?s body found stuffed in suitcase in Athens — Elisabeth Jane Ross was found dead last Saturday

A man has been arrested in connection with the death of a British charity worker found dead in Athens.

Elisabeth Jane Ross, 38, was found stuffed inside a suitcase and hidden in an abandoned building on July 18.

Greek police said a 26-year-old from Afghanistan confessed in police interrogation and has been charged with manslaughter, robbery and weapon violations.

Police said a raid of the suspect’s home found a fake pistol and a knife.

He is also suspected of using the victim’s bank card following her death.

The Scottish national would volunteer at local NGO charities and visit the Greek capital often, it has emerged.

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Known as Lisa, she would be seen talking to homeless people in the run-down sections of the city.

Detectives told local media they are investigating her mobile phone which ‘remained active’ after she died.

An abandoned building where the body of a British 38-year-old woman, Elisabeth Ross, was found in a suitcase on July 18th, in Athens, Greece, July 31, 2026. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi — An abandoned building where the body of a British 38-year-old woman, Elisabeth Ross, was found (Picture: Reuters)

They believe someone was sending messages to create the false impression that she was still alive. It was then switched off when the case began to garner international attention.

The texts claim she ‘needed some time to herself’ and that she ‘wanted to be alone for a while’, according to media outlets in the country.

Police told Greek media: ‘The phone was being used. Text messages were even sent obviously with a view to making people believe she was still alive.

Pictured: Greek authorities remove the the body of a British woman that was found in a deserted building. Re: A body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building has been identified as that of a 38-year-old British woman Elisabeth Jane Ross, in the Kypseli district of Athens, Greece. Eleven days after the macabre find, police shed some light on the mystery of a body that until Wednesday had remained unidentified, after appealing to foreign law enforcement agencies. The woman, whose body was found wrapped in cloth and placed in a bin bag inside the suitcase, was described as 5ft 4in tall with auburn hair gathered back in a bun. She was wearing a black T-shirt and shorts but had no tattoos or other distinguishing marks. — Greek authorities remove body of Elisabeth Jane Ross from an abandoned building.
(Picture: Intime News/Athena Pictures)

A homeless man found Elisabeth’s body after following a ‘bad smell’ into an empty building. He then saw something coming out of a suitcase which ‘looked like a human limb’.

The woman, known as Elizabeth, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase. — Elisabeth Jane Ross, from Scotland, was found dead in the Kypseli district in Athens on Saturday

Hellenic Police said that specialised officers carried out biological tests on the composed body. They managed to retrieve a set of fingerprints but were not on any Greek databases. The information was shared with US authorities who found them to be identical to those of a 38-year-old British citizen.

Elisabeth entered the country on June 26 and resided in a friendly residence in the Piraeus area until July 10, 2026, when she left for an unknown destination within Attica.

A police spokesman said: ‘Digital analysis of video footage determined the involvement of the 26-year-old foreigner, who was brought to the police headquarters on Thursday, July 30 and confessed to his actions.

‘It emerged that the 26-year-old placed the body in a suitcase and transported it to the abandoned site.

‘In fact, in the following days, the 26-year-old used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw money.’

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