IB Times — An elderly British woman’s body was found in Greece in a state suggesting she was “mauled to death” by a pack of dogs. The body had several bite marks, police said on Saturday 23 September.
The 64-year-old tourist was last seen at 4.30 on Thursday after a visit to the Mesimvria archaeological site near Petrota Beach, Rodopi, in north east Greece .
Her body was found by police and firefighters at 10.45am local time the next day. A search was initiated after the woman’s family in the UK alerted local authorities in Greece.
The woman had reportedly called her family the day she went missing and told them that she was attacked by a pack of stray dogs.
The victim, was named locally as Celia Hollingworth, UK authorities did not dispute the dead woman’s identity.
Ms Hollingworth, from Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, worked at Bristol University.
She had raised money for Greek charities helping Syrian refugees in the country and had supported a Greek trades union official who was facing prosecution in his home country. Ms Hollingworth was an official with the University and College Union, representing academics and lecturers, and was an active human rights campaigner.
Media reports suggested that there are nearly one million stray dogs across Greece after many were abandoned by their owners following the financial crisis.
It was not immediately clear what caused the stray dogs to attack the elderly woman, who was staying at a guest house in Maroneia town.
It was later revealed that the path Ms Hollingworth had been walking on was commonly used but passed near farms where guard dogs were deployed. It is possiblethat she had been attacked by a territorial guard dog protecting a local farm.
