ATHENS — Police seeking a missing 35-year-old British astrophysicist found a body in a ravine on the Greek island of Ikaria on Wednesday, state TV reported.

Greece's ERT television reported the body was discovered by a volunteer, one of dozens who were assisting in the search.

ERT did not say if the body had been identified as the missing woman, Natalie Christopher.

There was no immediate confirmation from police.

Christopher, an astrophysicist from London who resides in Nicosia, was reported missing by her partner after she failed to return from a run on Monday morning.

A search operation began on Monday afternoon involving Greek police, the fire brigade and a helicopter, a police spokesman said.

Christopher's disappearance prompted a massive campaign on social media with friends pleading for information on her whereabouts.

Christopher is well known for her peace activism in ethnically-split Cyprus and is also a campaigner for more women in under-represented scientific fields.

She is a keen sports enthusiast, running summer camps to get more girls into sports.

Christopher's disappearance comes a month after American scientist Suzanne Eaton, 59, was killed on another Greek Island.

Police found Eaton, a molecular biologist at the world-renowned Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, was found dead on July 8 inside man-made caves built by Nazis during the occupation of Crete in World War II.

A 27-year-old man has confessed to Eaton's slaying, officials said.