Police in Cyprus have found the decomposing remains of a woman in a suitcase, during their search of a highly toxic lake west of the capital, Nicosia.

Officers say the suspect, a career officer in the Cypriot military, has confessed to the killing of five women, as well as the 6- and 8-year-old daughters of two of his victims.

"After great and persistent effort and many difficulties, a travel case was pulled from the lake, containing the body of a woman, and a block of cement," said Neofytos Shailos, head of the Nicosia Criminal Investigation Department, on Sunday.

Shailos said tests would be carried out to determine the identity of the woman.

Search ongoing

The suspect made contact with the women through an online dating site. The crimes are thought to have dated from September 2016, with the murder of a mother and daughter from Romania, to the killing of a woman from the Philippines in August 2018.

The 35-year-old suspect told investigators that he had put the bodies of his victims in a suitcase and thrown them into the polluted lake, close to disused copper pyrites mine. He said there were seven victims in total.

The suitcase was one of two located on Saturday. Authorities said the second one could not be retrieved immediately, with police still looking for a third suitcase.

Officers have been accused of failing to properly investigate the disappearances of the women when they were first reported.

rc/cmk (Reuters, AP)

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