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More details emerge of British woman, 59, found 'without a head' after going swimming off Greek coast

Home> News> UK News

Published 09:23 8 Sep 2025 GMT+1

More details emerge of British woman, 59, found 'without a head' after going swimming off Greek coast

She vanished from a sun bed around a month ago

James Moorhouse

James Moorhouse

More tragic details have emerged regarding the death of a British woman who was found 'without a head' after disappearing off the Greek coast.

Michele Bourdas was on a two-week holiday in Greece with her husband Chris in August when she vanished from her sunbed while her spouse slept.

An urgent search was started in Kavala after the 59-year-old disappeared from the Ofrynio beach area, but tragically, she wasn't discovered by authorities until around a month after she initially went missing.

Her husband Chris, 66, revealed that police had found her body on the private island of Fidonisi, around 40km away from the beach in Kavala, and a month at sea had taken its toll, as she was discovered without a head, half-naked, and partially eaten by fish.

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Greek police have now issued an update on her death, and immediately ruled out 'foul play', suggesting that she had almost certainly drowned.

Forensic scientist Nikos Kifnidis told The Sun: "There were no other injuries… I have concluded her death was a result of drowning in the water.

The 59-year-old was discovered last week (Lifeline Hellas)
The 59-year-old was discovered last week (Lifeline Hellas)

"The swimsuit she was wearing, bought in the UK, was central to her being identified."

Evidence of an operation on her chest was also key to the investigation.

And now, her husband has spoken out about the tragic turn of events, while also taking aim at local police for what he deemed to be a lack of urgency in starting the search for his late wife.

He said: "They have found her body. Sadly I was expecting this. The problem is the harbour police did not start their search until late at night and I don't know what effect that had. They said they couldn't find her, they claimed she had disappeared with an unknown man, but this was rubbish.

"I think the harbour police really didn't do anything and next time something happens like this they should think about it. It shouldn't take them three hours to write up a missing person's report before starting the search.

"They said there were no signs she had drowned, that there was no body, that she was following someone else. But I knew this was not the case. She would not have gone off without her money, her glasses or her medication."

The married couple were staying in Kavala when Michele went missing (Getty Stock)
The married couple were staying in Kavala when Michele went missing (Getty Stock)

He also confirmed that he has officially complained about the way in which local authorities handled his wife's disappearance.

Mr Bourda added: "I had only been to the prosecution centre yesterday to complain about how the police and harbour police have handled this. It will be easy to see when I called the telephone line and how long they didn't do anything for."

LADbible has contacted the Hellenic Coastguard and Hellenic Police for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Handout

Topics: Crime, News, Travel, Holiday

James Moorhouse
James Moorhouse

James is a NCTJ Gold Standard journalist covering a wide range of topics and news stories for LADbible. After two years in football writing, James switched to covering news with Newsquest in Cumbria, before joining the LAD team in 2025. In his spare time, James is a long-suffering Rochdale fan and loves reading, running and music. Contact him via [email protected]

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@JimmyMoorhouse

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