Human remains found in the hills of northern Greece – believed to belong to a missing British hiker – were dismembered by wolves, according to a local coroner.
Coroner Nikos Kifnidis told The Associated Press that the discovered female thigh bones had been cracked open by bites and large sections of the body are still missing – injuries too severe to be caused by any dog or jackal, leading him to believe wolves are to blame.
Police are yet to confirm the identity of the remains but say they most likely belong to 63-year-old retired Oxford professor Celia Hollingworth; the British embassy in Athens reported her missing in the area last Friday, after she allegedly called her brother in England yelling that she was being attacked by “dogs”.
Authorities found a passport belonging to Hollingworth, who was visiting a seaside archaeological site at Messimvria on Thursday, where she arrived by taxi from the village of Maroneia – home to another ancient site – about 30kms away.
She was last seen alive later in the day, walking on a remote path that forms a shortcut between the two tourist sites.
“I concluded that the woman was attacked by wild animals who devoured her,” Kifnidis said. “I think she was eaten by a wolf or wolves.”
Wolves are known to roam remote parts of Greece about attacks on humans are extremely rare, and no fatal attacks have been reported in decades.
Kifnidis acknowledged the possibility Hollingworth was the victim of a human attack, but added “this is unlikely, as she herself phoned her brother and said she was being attacked by dogs.”
Britain’s Foreign Office is providing consular assistance to her family.
