"Body of ex-Cyprus leader found; 3 arrested" by Associated Press | March 10, 2010
NICOSIA, Cyprus - Three months after it was stolen, the corpse of Cyprus’s former president was found reburied in another grave and three men were arrested yesterday in what officials called a case of bodysnatching for ransom.
Two spokesmen for former president Tassos Papadopoulos’s family insisted, however, that his relatives had never received a demand for money.
The body of the right-wing Greek Cypriot was stolen in December during slow-moving reunification talks with Turkish Cypriot leaders. A lack of clear motive and few clues led to speculation that it could have been politically motivated, but authorities suggested early on that ransom was a more likely scenario.
The robbers removed a heavy marble plaque from on top of Papadopoulos’s grave on the southern outskirts of the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, then dug down to the coffin and removed the body of the former president on Dec. 11, a day before the first anniversary of his death.
The robbers left few leads at the scene. Lime was strewn over the grave in what investigators believe was an attempt to erase any tracks. Investigators sought the help of the FBI and Interpol as well as Greek and Israeli law enforcement authorities.
But there was little progress in the investigation until Monday, when police found the body in another cemetery after being alerted by his family, who had received a telephone tip, said a police spokesman.
Chrysis Pantelides, family spokesman, said a man speaking broken Greek had called with information about the corpse.
DNA testing early yesterday confirmed that it was Papadopoulos’s body, police said.--more--"
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Related: The MSM's Wide Latitude
I wondered the same thing this time as well.
