Authorities and volunteers on Crete on Thursday were conducting a search for an American molecular biologist who has been missing since Tuesday, the Creta Post website has reported.

Dr. Suzanne Eaton, aged 60, was attending a conference at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymbari in Hania, when she disappeared. She was last seen around lunchtime on Tuesday, according to the report.

Police were informed of her disappearance in the early hours of Thursday, launching a wide-scale search and rescue operation.