The police in Greece have confirmed that U.S .scientist Suzanne Eaton, who had gone missing on the island of Crete, was aspyxiated. Police have opened up a homicide investigation into the death.

Eaton’s body was found Monday in an abandoned World War II bunker on the island about three miles from Orthodox Academy where she was attending a conference. Eaton worked as a biologist at the Max Planck Institute at Dresden University in Germany. Reports said she disppeared after going on a run on July 2.

Suzanne Eaton
The American scientist Suzanne Eaton who had gone missing on a Greek island was strangled to death. The Scientist

Her family said in a Facebook page, Searching for Suzanne, said Eaton usually ran for 30 minutes everyday. “Due to the rough terrain and extreme heat, we believe the most likely possibility is that Suzanne may have either become overheated and looked for shade or she may have fallen,” said the Facebook post.

The vice mayor of tthe Platanias municipality, Konstantinos Beblidakis, said the road leading to the bunker is "accessible" and that many tourists stay in the area.

"There are many people going out there and especially tourists who go either by hiking or to go to the villas where they have rented rooms," Beblidakis said in a statement Tuesday. "It is an amphitheatrical area where many tourists pass by daily."

In an official statement, Max Planck Institute said Eaton will be remembered as an extraordinary scientist. The university rector, Hans Muller-Steinhagen, said they have lost an immensely renowend scientist and a truly outstanding human being. “We are deeply shocked and disturbed by this tragic event. Suzanne was an outstanding and inspiring scientist, a loving spouse and mother, an athlete as well as a truly wonderful person beloved to us all,” he said.

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