Missing British scientist found dead in Greece: TV

The body of a missing British scientist has been found in a ravine on the Greek island of Ikaria two days after she disappeared, Greek public television reported on Wednesday.

The cause of death of Nicosia-based astrophysicist Natalie Christopher, who had been on holiday with her partner, was not yet determined, the ERT channel said.

Greek police had been searching for the 35-year-old after she reportedly failed to return from a run on Monday.

A Greek police spokeswoman earlier told AFP that a police had late Tuesday joined Ikaria port patrols, firefighters and volunteers already looking for the scientist.

According to Greek and Cypriot media, Christopher and her 38-year-old Cypriot partner had arrived on the Aegean island on Saturday and stayed near the port of Agios Kirykos. She left their hotel for a jog on Monday morning but never returned, her partner told media.

"The couple talked by phone around 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and she said she had gone for a run in the neighbourhood," a police spokesman told Cypriot television.

The Cyprus Mail website said Christopher's companion notified the police that she had not returned at around 12:40 pm, while other press reports said her phone has been traced to the island of Fournoi, about 10 kilometres (six miles) away, without saying how it might have got there.

Greek media reports also said traces of blood had been found in the couple's hotel room and were being examined.

Christopher, well known in Cyprus as an active sportswoman, was involved in several social media projects, including one -- "Cyprus Girls Can" -- which aims to break down barriers between Greek and Turkish youngsters on the divided island.

The incident comes three weeks after the murder of US molecular biologist Suzanne Eaton on the Greek island of Crete.

The 59-year-old had been attending a conference near the city of Chania and gone out on July 2 without taking her mobile phone, the police said.

Her body was found six days later in an abandoned World War II bunker near the town of Hania.

A 27-year-old farmer confessed to raping and killing Eaton, who had worked for the Max Planck Institute at Dresden University.