Greek investigators are piecing together a disturbing timeline in the case of a three-year-old girl found drowned at a beach near Athens, with new evidence suggesting she may have been deceased before arriving at the water.
Surveillance footage reviewed by authorities shows a woman pushing a stroller containing the young girl—her face unusually covered with a hat and scarf despite the summer heat—through the coastal area of Palio Faliro late at night. Forensic experts have also found bruises on the child’s head, raising suspicions of prior injury. The child was wearing a long-sleeved swimsuit when recovered from the sea, consistent with what she appeared to be wearing in the videos.
A Mystery Woman and Three Children
In three key videos captured on the evening of July 27, a woman is seen accompanied by three children: two walking beside her and one strapped into a stroller. In the first video, taken around a kiosk, she is observed buying snacks, with the child in the stroller eerily still and her face fully covered.
Later footage shows the woman moving through the area with only two children and no stroller. Eventually, she is caught on camera abandoning the now-empty stroller in a park bush, before getting into a taxi with the two remaining children and heading toward central Athens.
Investigators are closely examining the woman’s behavior in each video. In one scene, she is seen entering the sea at the Edem beach with the child and then reemerging alone. At another point, she appears to change clothes, reversing her dress. There is no recorded interaction between her or the other children and the toddler in the stroller, prompting concerns that the child may have been unconscious or already deceased during the recorded events.
Authorities Close to Identification
Law enforcement officials say they are close to identifying the woman and have not ruled out making her image public if no leads emerge. The path she took along the tram lines and into the water is under minute review, and the taxi ride that followed is now seen as a crucial lead in the case.
Several questions remain unanswered: Why was the child fully covered despite the heat? Why did her posture remain unchanged in all videos? Why was she left behind while the others departed?
