Man admits being Cyprus’ first ever serial killer after seven women and girls murdered with bodies found in mine shafts

Island's last double murder case happened in 1993

Firefighters and investigators search a lake near the village of Xiliato for the remains of more victims outside Nicosia, Cyprus, 26 April 2019. (EPA/Katia Christodoulou)

A man has admitted killing five women and two girls in Cyrus’ first serial killing case.

The bodies of two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft six days apart earlier this month.

A third woman was then found at an army firing range about nine miles from the mine shaft on Thursday.

The suspect, a 35-year-old Greek Cypriot army officer, is said to have confessed to seven killings.

These include a Romanian mother and daughter, three Filipino women including the daughter of one of them, and a woman described as either Indian or Nepalese.

The Romanian woman, Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, and her eight-year-old Elena Natalia Bunea were reported missing in October 2016. They were never found after they were last seen on 30 September that year.

The body of Mary Rose Tiburcio, 39, was found on 14 April. The army officer is also suspected of killing Ms Tiburcio’s six-year-old daughter Sierra.

A police truck (rear left) carries a body found after investigators and police officers searched a field outside Orounta village, near the capital Nicosia, in Cyprus, on 25 April 2019. (AP)

A week later search crews retrieved another body, thought to be that of Arian Palanas Lozano, 28, from the shaft.

The third body has not been identified.

The suspect is believed to have met the women via online dating sites.

Police are reportedly reopening dozens of missing person cases involving foreign women who it was assumed had left the country.

The crime has been particularly shocking for people in Cyprus because there have been no previous reported cases of a serial killer on the island.

The last double murder case involving the abduction and death of two women from Sweden and Ukraine happened in 1993.

The accused man has been remanded in custody while the investigation continues but has not yet been charged.

With additional reporting by Reuters