A SUSPECTED serial killer who admitted strangling a woman he met on a dating site has been arrested in Cyprus after two bodies were found dumped down a mineshaft, cops said.

A six-year-old girl, who is the daughter of one of the women found, is missing and feared dead while the suspect, a military offcicer, 35, remains in custody.

A flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside Mitsero village near the capital Nicosia Credit: AP:Associated Press

The bodies were found within the space of a week at an abandoned flooded mine about 19 miles west of capital Nicosia.

One of the woman found has been identified as a 39-year-old from the Philippines who vanished in May last year along with the missing girl who is her daughter, six.

A second body was found on Saturday evening and is believed to be a 28-year-old, also from the Philippines, who was also reported missing in 2018.

A 35-year-old career officer with the Cypriot army is in custody on suspicion of killing all three.

Investigators were searching the flooded mineshaft today as well as a nearby lake for further bodies.

Cops told a court during the suspect's remand hearing that the soldier had admitted to strangling one of the victims he met online after having sex with her.



'STRANGLED AFTER SEX '

Detectives believe the suspect approached both the women on an online dating site.

Police chief Zacharias Chrysostomou said the crimes committed are "unprecedented" in the country's history.

He said: "This is a form of crime unprecedented for the norms of Cyprus. It’s premature to assess the extent of this crime."

Chrysostomou said police had "every intention" of investigating any perceived shortcomings and would assign responsibility where due.

Campaigners say police ignored fears expressed for the victims' safety when they went missing last year. Acitivst Louis Koutroukides said copsquestioned his motives and suggested the 39-year-old woman and her child may have moved to the north of the divided island.

"If they believed me when I went to the police things would have turned out differently," he told state TV.

On Sunday, supporters joined several dozen women from the island's Filipino community for a candlelight vigil in the capital Nicosia in memory of the victims.

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