A Greek man is being questioned by police over the killing of an "outstanding and inspiring" US scientist on the island of Crete.

The 27-year-old man was one of 10 people who authorities interviewed at the weekend in connection with Suzanne Eaton's death.

The suspect has confessed to the crime, according to CBS News.

Image: The victim's body was discovered in a bunker on the Greek island

He is reportedly a local farmer who has two children.

Ms Eaton, a 59-year-old molecular biologist, was on the island for a conference when she went missing on 2 July.


It was thought she had gone for a run, and colleagues raised the alarm after she failed to return.

Her body was found in a Second World War bunker last Monday, six days after she disappeared.

A post-mortem examination concluded she died of asphyxiation, a police source said.

Detectives from Athens travelled to the tourism hotspot to lead an inquiry into the killing.

Investigators took DNA samples from persons of interest and requested data records from mobile phone companies to try to identify who left Ms Eaton's body in the bunker, reports say.

The site was constructed by Nazi troops after they occupied Crete in 1941, to protect against air raids.

The coroner has ruled Ms Eaton died as a result of a "criminal act".

Antonis Papadomanolakis said: "It was on the day that she had gone for a run and two hours after her last meal when this event happened. But we cannot know if it happened close by or far away."

Image: Detectives from Athens have been leading the investigation

Ms Eaton was from California but had been working at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany.

She was on the island to attend a scientific conference on insect hormones at the Orthodox Academy in the coastal northwestern village of Kolymbari.

Following the discovery of her body, her family said they would be "forever grateful for the support we have received from this global community of caring people".

The German institute where she worked also paid tribute, saying her colleagues were "deeply shocked and disturbed by this tragic event".

It added: "Suzanne was an outstanding and inspiring scientist, a loving spouse and mother, an athlete as well as a truly wonderful person beloved to us all. Her loss is unbearable.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Tony, her sons Max and Luke, and with all her family."