Questions around the identity of the little girl found dead on Eden Beach in south Athens early Sunday, July 27, and the circumstances of her death remain unanswered still on Thursday. However, critical footage from security cameras might lead to crucial evidence in the next hours, the Greek Police believes.
Authorities are closely examining the video footage from security cameras in the area of Palaio Faliro, which is considered crucial for solving the case.
Investigations carried out by the men of the Coast Guard are moving in every direction, while almost five days later, the dead little girl remains unclaimed.
“Foul play” is being considered as one of the possibilities.
Woman-“key” in the video footage
Authorities are giving particular weight to two footage from security cameras in the area a woman has been recorded pushing a stroller with a child wearing clothing similar to the unique and expensive swimming suit the little girl was wearing when her body was found.
On one video recorded a few hours before the body was found, the woman in question was walking on Poseidonos Avenue which runs parallel to the beach of Edem where the body was found. She was accompanied by two other children walking next to her, while the third is in a stroller, Mega TV and tovima reported.
The face of the girl is being covered and she is packed in heavy cloths despite the heatwave of those days.
The child in the stroller was wearing clothing that closely resembles the swimsuit the four-year-old girl was wearing when she was found dead.
The second footage was taken a few hours hours later and shows the woman with the two walking children and an empty stroller which she abandons in a bush, newsit.gr reported.
According to SKAI TV, the woman left the stroller in a bush on the sidewalk of Poseidonos Avenue behind a bus stop and then waiting to catch a bus in the direction of Athens or Piraeus.
Swimming suit not available in Greece, assumed countries of girl’s origin
Police published on Wednesday a picture of the one-piece swimming suit the girl was wearing clarifying that the suit was made in Brazil and is not being exported or can be bought via the internet.
Based on the footage, authorities assumed that the child in the stroller was semi-conscious, which, if and when confirmed, is consistent with the coroner’s conclusion, namely that the little girl drowned very close to the beach, after inhaling sand and water found in her lungs during the autopsy.
Inconsistencies regarding the time of the girl’s death appear in media reports. According to forensic experts, the child showed signs of drowning, yet her body lacked the typical signs of prolonged water exposure. Wrinkling of the skin—common after being in water for a long time—was minimal, indicating the body was likely submerged for only one to two hours. However, the estimated time of death is believed to be between 20 and 30 hours before the body was discovered, raising questions about where the child was kept during that time.
The snapshot was recorded a few hours before the body was found, and authorities estimate that it may prove to be crucial in the course of the investigation.
Also on Tuesday, authorities published information that the girl was older than initially assumed, that is she was 4 years old and not 2 or 3.
They also estimated that the girl originated either from countries of North Africa such as Algeria or Morocco – or from the Middle East like from Syria.
Scenarios & Questions
The case has taken new dimensions as based on the information gathered by the Coast Guard and the Police, the scenario that the case evolved around the coastal zone is being seriously examined, while the possibility that the child fell into the water from a ship or boat is being ruled out for the time being, without however that any possibility is being excluded until the case is ultimately solved.
At the same time, investigations are in full swing to identify the child, with the police appealing for any information that may shed light on this tragic case. The cost guard published the following numbers when citizens can give information under discretion: First Port Department of Flisvos immediately at 210-9829759, or the Saronic Gulf Port Authority at 210-8946326.
