Police are investigating whether a body found in an advanced state of decomposition in the sea off Akamas may belong to a man reported missing several months ago, though they say confirmation will not come quickly.
Authorities said the condition of the body means identification will be difficult before a post-mortem is completed and laboratory histopathology tests are carried out on samples that have been taken.
The body was found by a 48-year-old amateur fisherman who had gone to a remote beach on the Akamas peninsula shortly before 6 am to fish. He alerted the police immediately by telephone.
Strong police forces from the Paphos district headquarters and Polis Chrysochous went to the scene, while Paphos CID took over the investigation.
Inquiries so far appear to have established that the body is that of a man, with investigators focusing mainly on missing persons cases.
According to information, the state in which the body was found and the timeline of missing persons reports held by police have led investigators to focus on a report made during a specific period.
Police officials said more steps are still needed before the findings can be formalised, including the post-mortem and laboratory examination of tissues and other evidence collected from the scene.
They said the process would in any case be difficult because of the advanced decomposition of the body.
Alongside this initial line of inquiry, which appears to be the leading one, police are also examining other scenarios based on past cases.
Members of the force noted in particular that the Akamas sea area has seen many cases in the past where bodies found in the water or washed ashore were later identified as foreign nationals who had been passengers on boats involved in illegal activity off the peninsula and were thrown into the sea after dying so as not to reveal the vessel’s position or trigger an investigation by the authorities.
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Body of unidentified man found in sea off Akamas