Found Deceased Greece - Dr. Suzanne Eaton, 60, American, gone for a run, Crete, 2 Jul 2019 *ARREST*

[Handsome Sailor]

I'm a salt hero, and having sailed Cretan waters famously, I can tell you, that whole western part of the island is covered in vineyards at the lower elevations. Winters come early, and last long. Burlap would be found everywhere and anywhere.

 

[otto]

Exactly. I'm also thinking, this petite 60 year old woman must have put up quite a fight for them to stab AND strangle her.. Or someone was REALLY mad at her. It's crazy.

She probably knew that her best chance to survive was to not be abducted, so I agree that she probably put up quite a fight. There must be something at the location where she was abducted. Hopefully that hasn't been completely lost due to search parties on the trail.

 

[John6000]

No one seems to have suggested academic rivalry. Speaking from experience, the academic world can get quite nasty. She was going to be a plenary speaker. Might she have "stolen" someone else's research?
BBC: "The 59-year-old molecular biologist from the world-renowned Max Planck Institute in Germany had been attending a conference on the island."

 

[whitelilac]

It would be interesting to know if anyone had bruises or injuries that day. If Dr Eaton was able to put up a fight, she likely would have used her black belt skills. I hope someone comes forward with suspicions.

 

[glassheater]

No one seems to have suggested academic rivalry. Speaking from experience, the academic world can get quite nasty. She was going to be a plenary speaker. Might she have "stolen" someone else's research?
BBC: "The 59-year-old molecular biologist from the world-renowned Max Planck Institute in Germany had been attending a conference on the island."

Having it be a colleague has been suggested. I agree the academic world can be quite competitive and nasty. Source: I work in academia

 

[zecats]

I'm a salt hero, and having sailed Cretan waters famously, I can tell you, that whole western part of the island is covered in vineyards at the lower elevations. Winters come early, and last long. Burlap would be found everywhere and anywhere.

Ok..if anyone can just grab some burlap pretty much anywhere, then I'm back to all possibilities. Someone followed her from the conference area; someone harmed her at the conference area: someone random found her running and grabbed her; she stumbled into something nefarious and was killed to keep her silent...All MOO

Which of these would likely include someone brazen enough to cut off an ear? Is this symbolic of something? More likely to point to a local person than a tourist or conference attendee?

 

[Handsome Sailor]

I don't think this was random. I think it was a local who worked at or near the center, someone familiar with her and with her routine from all the years she had attended the conference. The murderer will have the eyes of an unsuccessful rapist.

 

[otto]

No one seems to have suggested academic rivalry. Speaking from experience, the academic world can get quite nasty. She was going to be a plenary speaker. Might she have "stolen" someone else's research?
BBC: "The 59-year-old molecular biologist from the world-renowned Max Planck Institute in Germany had been attending a conference on the island."

The academic world is indeed highly competitive, and idea theft is far too common. If that's the case, I would look at people she worked with, the up and coming scholars. Who had a rental vehicle, who is up for tenure, who has been passed over for tenure, who co-authored her work?

 

[otto]

Ok..if anyone can just grab some burlap pretty much anywhere, then I'm back to all possibilities. Someone followed her from the conference area; someone harmed her at the conference area: someone random found her running and grabbed her; she stumbled into something nefarious and was killed to keep her silent...All MOO

Which of these would likely include someone brazen enough to cut off an ear? Is this symbolic of something? More likely to point to a local person than a tourist or conference attendee?

Interesting thought! Someone who doesn't listen doesn't need two ears?

 

[human]

She left without her phone which to me implies she was not leaving on a run. She took pictures the days before. And one would think that she would like the comfort of a phone in a foreign country.

I think she met with someone and she left with him or her

 

[otto]

Ok..if anyone can just grab some burlap pretty much anywhere, then I'm back to all possibilities. Someone followed her from the conference area; someone harmed her at the conference area: someone random found her running and grabbed her; she stumbled into something nefarious and was killed to keep her silent...All MOO

Which of these would likely include someone brazen enough to cut off an ear? Is this symbolic of something? More likely to point to a local person than a tourist or conference attendee?

I was initially doubtful that it was someone from the conference, but if there's no CCTV of her leaving the academy, maybe she went with someone by car. What do we know about CCTV in the building and grounds? I'm now more curious about academic rivalry.

She was stabbed many times, an ear was cut off, she was wrapped or covered with burlap, she was suffocated - possible with a hand over nose and mouth, and she was likely dropped into the cave. That sounds like a pre-picked body location, a plan with the burlap and weapon, preventing her from screaming with hand over mouth and nose - does that mean that the car was the murder scene, or the cave? I wonder if the ear was in the cave too.

 

[glassheater]

She left without her phone which to me implies she was not leaving on a run. She took pictures the days before. And one would think that she would like the comfort of a phone in a foreign country.

I think she met with someone and she left with him or her

Agree. And would explain why she wasn’t seen on a run at all by surveillance or humans.

 

[otto]

She left without her phone which to me implies she was not leaving on a run. She took pictures the days before. And one would think that she would like the comfort of a phone in a foreign country.

I think she met with someone and she left with him or her

Leaving the phone behind doesn't make sense to me either, but meeting someone at a car for a few minutes - that would explain the running shoes, no phone, disappearance without a trace.

 

[Snoopster]

Inside the Greek island cave where US biologist was found murdered | Daily Mail Online
American biologist was MURDERED: Police reveal the 60-year-old who was dumped inside a network of Nazi tunnels in Greece was suffocated, stabbed and had her EAR cut off

EEeeekkk! Just getting caught up, so I haven't read all posts.
I originally believed it was a homicide based on how far SE was found from the conference site and that she wasn't seen on CCTV south of the site. That she was found near a highway, pretty much made things clear, but it is so sad to hear that she was so brutally treated.

RIP Suzanne and I wish I could hug your loved ones. I wish I could take some of your pain away.
No one deserves this.

 

[Snoopster]

She left without her phone which to me implies she was not leaving on a run. She took pictures the days before. And one would think that she would like the comfort of a phone in a foreign country.

I think she met with someone and she left with him or her

Her relatives said that when she went out on runs she normally didn't take her phone.

 

[Snoopster]

I'm leaning toward a local....an opportunist.
Apparently SE went out for a 30 minute run each day. She wasn't caught on CCTV south of the facility, but that doesn't mean that she didn't run north, as she did the previous day.

The cave was near a highway, and someone would need to know where they were going and know that it would be a low time for others to stop by. Perhaps they kept her in a vehicle and dropped her off in the cave later at night.

 

[glassheater]

I'm leaning toward a local....an opportunist.
Apparently SE went out for a 30 minute run each day. She wasn't caught on CCTV south of the facility, but that doesn't mean that she didn't run north, as she did the previous day.

The cave was near a highway, and someone would need to know where they were going and know that it would be a low time for others to stop by. Perhaps they kept her in a vehicle and dropped her off in the cave later at night.

Given the intense heat, how long before the body started giving decomposing smells.

 

[Snoopster]

I'm leaning toward a local....an opportunist.
Apparently SE went out for a 30 minute run each day. She wasn't caught on CCTV south of the facility, but that doesn't mean that she didn't run north, as she did the previous day.

The cave was near a highway, and someone would need to know where they were going and know that it would be a low time for others to stop by. Perhaps they kept her in a vehicle and dropped her off in the cave later at night.

I should add that I don't think this is a major crime spike in Crete. It only takes one crazed person.

I also don't think that this case relates to the missing British woman, although the fact that they went missing only 3 days apart is definitely curious. They were 200km apart though. (but we should keep it in the back of our minds...just in case.)

 

[glassheater]

These tunnels and bunkers are photographed and reviewed on Trip Advisor. Also directions are give there as to the location and how to find the entrance. She just as likely could have been attacked by another tourist as a local. Or even someone attending the conference. This event is regularly occurring (annually?) and if it can be presumed the same attendees return each time, anyone would likely know about these bunkers. I wouldn't rule out anyone at this point. JMO

Zecats, can you post the review here? I tried to find that bunker on TripAdvisor and wasn’t able to. There are other former Nazi bunkers that have even converted to a museum on the other side of Crete that are on there but I haven’t found the bunker in Xamoudochori.

If they aren’t on TripAdvisor then I definitely am leaning towards a local. Given that crime ( especially crime this brutal) is so rare in Greece, I’m so confused as to the motive. She didn’t have valuables on her. Broad daylight near a conference center. Did she complain about an employee at the center in years past? It’s really confusing.

 

[otto]

I should add that I don't think this is a major crime spike in Crete. It only takes one crazed person.

I also don't think that this case relates to the missing British woman, although the fact that they went missing only 3 days apart is definitely curious. They were 200km apart though. (but we should keep it in the back of our minds...just in case.)

The British woman has been found alive and well.