No sign of missing women as search goes on

PAPHOS police are still investigating a number of leads into the disappearance of two women in the district on separate occasions last week.

Briton Nancy Johnson, 73, has been missing for 12 days and Thekla Christou, 68, was reported missing a week ago on Thursday. Police say they do not believe the two cases are connected.

Paphos police spokesman Nicos Tsapis yesterday confirmed that information provided by the general public regarding the two cases was being thoroughly investigated.

He said: “These are both ongoing cases and we have had a number of alleged reported sightings of the women from the public and we are investigating each one. But we have no news as yet,” he said.

Johnson was last seen in Tsada village where she lives with her husband George, 76.  Christou, a well known face in Paphos, was reported missing by her family in Chlorokas.

The Cypriot woman’s family filed a missing persons report eight days ago. They said the missing woman often goes for walks to collect used tin cans and containers. A police search of the surrounding areas in Chlorokas proved fruitless however.

Johnson, who has Alzheimer’s, was reported missing by her husband after saying she was going for a walk. There were two sightings of the missing woman within two hours of her leaving the house. Since then, police have been unable to find any trace of her.

Her son Richard, 42, arrived on the island from the UK to help with the search.

He said: “My father and I along with friends and relatives have blanketed Paphos and the surrounding villages with posters in Greek and English of my mother in the hope that it will give us some leads as to her whereabouts.”

He added: “I know that the police are continuing to search for her but I believe the operation has been scaled down.”

Nancy Johnson is approximately 1.5m tall, weighing around 50kg, and has short grey hair, which has been ‘permed’ into a wave. She speaks English only. Nancy Johnson’s facebook page  is https://www.facebook.com/pages/MISSING-PERSON-Nancy-Johnson-Tsada-Cyprus...

According to police, Thekla Christou, is about 1.6m in height of a slight build and has grey curly shoulder length hair. She was wearing a black dress.

Police are urging anyone with any information relating to either of the missing women to contact  the nearest police station or the citizens line on 1460, where information can be given anonymously.