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American found dead on Greek island as search continues for three other missing tourists

Tourist was found on a beach close to the old port on Mathraki

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Sunday 16 June 2024 14:45 EDT
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An American has been found dead on the small island of Mathraki on Sunday, the latest tourist who has died or been reported missing in Greece this summer.

Authorities are still searching for three missing tourists across the Greek islands.

Another tourist found the man’s body on a beach close to Mathraki’s old port, according to AFP. Mathraki is located close to the more populous island of Corfu.

The American, who had not been identified, was reported missing on Thursday, and was last seen alive at a tavern on Tuesday with two female tourists who later left the island.

The tourist was on Mathraki for a vacation, and staying with a Greek-American who contacted police after finding his home with the front door open, lights and air-conditioning on, but no trace of his friend or his ID or travel documents.

The 1.3 square-mile island has a population of only about 100 people and is heavily wooded. Law enforcement were called in from Corfu as Mathraki has no coast guard or police station.

A landscape photo showing the Greek islands of Mathraki and Othoni
A landscape photo showing the Greek islands of Mathraki and Othoni (Filippos Parginos / Wikimedia Commons)

A coroner was traveling to Mathraki on Sunday to begin a preliminary investigation. Officials said the body is set to be taken to Corfu for an autopsy, according to ABC News.

It is the third tourist death on Greek islands in a matter of weeks.

Last Sunday, British TV personality, Dr Michael Mosley, was found dead on the island of Symi. A coroner found that he had died four days earlier while on a hike in hot conditions across rocky terrain.

A Dutch tourist was found dead early on Saturday on Samos. The 74-year-old man was located by a fire service drone facedown in a ravine around 1,000ft from where he was last seen on Sunday, struggling to walk in the heat.

Samos and Symi are both located close to the Turkish coast.

Eric Calibet, 59, had been vacationing on the island but was reported missing by a friend on Tuesday afternoon
Eric Calibet, 59, had been vacationing on the island but was reported missing by a friend on Tuesday afternoon (Municipality of Amorgos)

Three tourists remain missing on Greek islands.

Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy Albert Calibet, 59, from Hermosa Beach, California, was reported missing after he didn’t return from a hike on the island of Amorgos.

“We’re sick to our stomachs, knowing he’s out there somewhere,” his girlfriend Debbie Leshane told KABC.

She said that Calibet called her just before he left to go on a hike. At about 9.20am local time on Tuesday, he had sent an image from the trailhead sign. That was the last time she heard from him.

Two French tourists were reported missing on the 400-person island of Sikinos in the Aegean Sea on Friday, CBS News reported. The two women, aged 73 and 64, had left their hotels to meet up.

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