Police are investigating after the body of an American scientist was found inside a World War Two bunker on the Greek island of Crete.

Suzanne Eaton, 59, was reported missing on July 2 after going for a run.

Police confirmed she had died of suffocation and they were investigating her death as a criminal act.

Ms Eaton was a molecular biologist at the world-renowned Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany and had been attending a conference in the town of Chania.

In a statement, the institute confirmed her body had been found on Monday.

It added: “There is an ongoing homicide investigation being led by the police in Crete, which has taken comprehensive measures to ensure that the responsible party(ies) will be brought to justice.”

According to Cretalive news website, a forensic autopsy found she had been suffocated but there was no other indication of trauma.

Police are investigating whether Ms Eaton was killed inside the bunker or moved there after the event, it adds.

The Greek Reporter website said her body had been covered in burlap, a rough cloth, leading Greek authorities to conclude she had been killed.

Greek authorities said her body was discovered on a rough and rocky site inside a World War Two bunker, 5-6 miles from where she was last seen.

“Searching for Suzanne,” a Facebook page created by Ms Eaton’s family, said she was last known to be playing the piano on July 2, and is believed to have gone for a run later that afternoon.

Her passport, wallet, phone, cash, and cycling shoes were in her hotel room but her running shoes were missing, it said.

Dresden University’s Max Planck Institute, where Eaton was a research group leader, described her as “a leading scientist in her field, a strong athlete, runner and senior black belt in Tae Kwon Do.”

Ms Eaton was married to British scientist Tony Hyman and had two sons, Max and Luke.

MSN

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