An 82-year-old woman was found dead in her Larnaca flat on Monday afternoon after neighbours reported a strong smell coming from the apartment, police said.
Officers, assisted by the fire service, forced open the door of the flat near the American Academy in the city centre and found a body in an advanced state of decomposition, according to Larnaca police. Based on the condition of the body, police believe the woman had been dead for a considerable period of time.
The body is not in a recognisable state and DNA testing will be required for formal identification, police said. According to Philenews sources in the police, the woman, who was from an EU country, had been living alone and had not been contacted by her relatives in the past six months. Larnaca police said they would contact Europol to trace her next of kin and obtain DNA samples for identification purposes.
Larnaca police are investigating the case as an unnatural death. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out in the coming days to establish the cause of death.