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Cyprus slayings: Lake searched for bodies in suitcases

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Investigators are searching for bodies with a special camera in a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 27, 2019. Cyprus police are intensifying a search for the remains of more victims at locations where an army officer, who authorities say admitted to killing five women and two girls had dumped their bodies. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A diver in the water and an Investigator conduct a search near the village of Xiliatos, Cyprus, Friday, April 26, 2019. Cyprus police are intensifying a search for the remains of more victims at locations where an army officer who authorities say admitted to killing five women and two girls had dumped their bodies. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Police in Cyprus are searching a man-made lake for suitcases in which an army officer, who confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls, said he stuffed the bodies of some of his victims.

A police official told the Associated Press Saturday that remote-control cameras have located a suitcase in the lake, part of a now-abandoned copper mine.

The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to disclose details of an ongoing investigation.

A court on Saturday extended the detention of the 35-year-old Cypriot National Guard captain for another eight days.

The suspect, who has not been named, was arrested last week after the discovery of a Filipino woman's body in an abandoned mineshaft triggered a wider investigation.