Natalie Christopher: Missing British scientist found dead on Greek island of Ikaria

Thirty-five-year-old astrophysicist disappeared during morning run while holidaying with partner

A British scientist who went missing while on holiday on a Greek island has been found dead, police said.

Natalie Christopher, 35, was reported missing by her 38-year-old Cypriot partner on Monday after she did not return from her morning run.

Authorities launched a search operation on Monday afternoon involving police, the fire brigade and a helicopter.

"The body of the 35-year-old British national was found by search teams at a ravine about 20 metres deep," Greek police said, confirming earlier reports by Greek state TV ERT.

Officers did not provide further details.

The area where she was believed to have been running reportedly has paths along steep sea cliffs.

Police have been investigating blood found on Ms Christopher’s pillow, according to local reports.

The owner of the Kerame hotel she and her partner were staying in, Theodoros Theodorakis, told The Independent the blood stains resembled that of a nosebleed.

Local police told Greek media the fabric had been sent for DNA testing, as a vast manhunt comprising police, fire services, coast guard and volunteers searched for the missing scientist.

Her partner told local media that he awoke on Monday to find Ms Christopher missing. When he called her mobile, she told him she was out running nearby, but did not return.

The search had focused on finding her mobile phone signal, with authorities reportedly employing advanced tracking equipment from the Greek army to try to locate the device's last signal.

The Oxford-trained physicist was a keen runner and had posted pictures on Facebook of one she completed on Sunday near Evdilos, less than 2km from her accommodation and close to where her body was found.

Ms Christopher is well known for her peace activism in ethnically-split Cyprus and is a campaigner for more women in under-represented scientific fields.

The Foreign Office told The Independent it had not received an update from Greek police regarding a body being found in the search for a missing British woman.

A spokesperson added: “We are assisting the family of a British woman reported missing in Ikaria, and are in contact with the Greek authorities who are conducting the search for her.”

Ms Christopher is the second female scientist to have gone missing after going for a run on a Greek island this summer.

In July, US scientist Suzanne Eaton went missing in Crete.

Ms Eaton, 59, was a molecular biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden in Germany and had travelled to Crete to attend a conference.

Colleagues raised the alarm on 2 July when she did not return from jogging.

Her body was found in a Second World War military bunker used during the Nazi occupation of Crete and a coroner revealed she had been raped and killed.

The Max Planck Institute said in a statement that she was “a leading scientist in her field, a strong athlete, runner and senior black belt in Taekwondo”.