Skull found in Paphos belongs to missing British woman

Police on Wednesday said that a skull found in Koloni, Paphos, was matched to 79-year-old Briton Ann Naisbitt, who has been missing since 3 April.

The identification was made following genetic testing carried out.

Talking to state radio CyBC on Wednesday, police spokesperson Christos Andreou said that officers had also found human remains near where the skull was found.

The skull had been found on 14 May by a livestock farmer in a field some 5 km away from her residence.

The bones were recovered later by the police officers in coordination with the civil defence, not far from where the skull had been found.

Andreou said clothing and other items were also recovered from a nearby dry riverbed. A relative identified the clothes as belonging to the missing person.

Authorities are conducting genetic testing on the bones to see if they match the woman.

The deceased was known to have been suffering from health conditions; however, police are focusing on ruling out any possibility of foul play.

The British woman was last seen leaving her residence in Paphos on 3 April at 10 a.m., after which time all traces of her whereabouts had been lost.

According to the police, it was the second time the woman had been reported as missing, with the previous incident in July a year ago, when she was found by the afternoon of the same day.

“The woman in question had been facing health problems, and last summer, she was declared missing again. She was found some 3-4 km from her home.

“The distance where the bones have been found is around 5 km, and we are investigating how she ended up in that particular spot, although we believe she walked there,” said Andreou.

He said the state of her remains could be due to animals and birds foraging.