Investigators are reportedly searching for a man named Markos in connection with the death of Elisabeth-Jane Ross

NEED TO KNOW

• Greek police are reportedly searching for a man named Markos in connection with the death of Elisabeth-Jane Ross
• Markos is said to be a “heavily tattooed” man experiencing homelessness, who lives in the building where Ross’s remains were found
• The remains were discovered in a suitcase in a building in Kypseli in Athens on July 18

Authorities are reportedly looking for a “heavily tattooed” man in connection with the death of a Scottish woman whose remains were found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Greece.

The man, named Markos, is reportedly experiencing homelessness and lives in the building where the remains of Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, were found in the Kypseli neighborhood of central Athens at about 12 p.m. local time on Saturday, July 18, U.K. newspaper The Times reported on Friday, July 31.

The outlet added that Markos has not been seen since Ross’s body was discovered.

A man who lives near the location, 67-year-old Hamid Reza, told the newspaper that police investigators interviewed him about Markos and “wanted to know if I had seen him in the area in the last few days and said it was about the British woman.”

“Markos lives in the building where her body and the suitcase were found,” Reza told the outlet, describing the alleged suspect as “about 40, dark hair and he has loads of tattoos on both arms.”

“Police are obviously desperate to find Markos,” he told The Times. “They have been asking people about him and have also been driving around the area lots.”

An anonymous police source told The Times that police “have a lead on” a man experiencing homelessness but cannot share additional details. “We want to question a particular individual, but we are also looking for a number of other people as part of this investigation,” the source said.

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The Hellenic Police, Greece’s national police force, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Aug. 1.

Ross’s remains were reportedly found by another unhoused man after he noticed a human leg protruding from the case at the location on Evelpidon Street, ERT News previously reported.

Ross’s father told officers his daughter was staying with two friends in Keratsini, a suburb of west Athens, according to local newspaper Ta Nea. The couple and their relatives told police that Ross left the area on Wednesday, July 15, to meet some American friends in the central Athens neighborhood of Kypseli, which lies around 10 miles east.

The Hellenic Police’s Homicide Department is working to determine what happened to Ross in the last days of her life, as well as whether she traveled to Greece alone and who else she was in contact with during her time in the country. 

According to ERT News, investigators believe her last communication with her boyfriend was on July 15, the day she left for Kypseli, while her phone continued to emit a signal until the morning of July 18, the day her body was found.

On Saturday, Aug. 1, local authorities told the BBC that a post-mortem examination and toxicology tests have not yet been concluded, but police expect to have some results “in the coming days.”

Until this happens, investigators are unable to confirm a cause of death or confirm if Ross was murdered.

“We have made it a priority so we can have results in the coming days,” police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglidou told BBC Scotland News. “Then we will know how she died. This can’t wait.”

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