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Horrifying-Mums' Body Found Without Hair & Eyes
Terrifying Final Text of Murdered Mum Whose Body was Found Without Hair and Eyes
Single mum Jean Hanlon waited until her three boys had left home before she moved to the paradise island of Crete in 2005 - tragically, four years later she was dead Daily Mirror UK, 26 JUL 2020 Jean Hanlon adored her three sons and was a devoted mum to her boys. But when they had all left home she made the brave decision to leave her native Scotland and relocate to a Greek island paradise. Former hospital secretary Jean was a single mum to Michael, Robert and David and worked hard to ensure they always had everything the needed. But she longed to return to the peace of the countryside after growing up on a farm and after visiting Crete with a friend when she was 40, she knew it was where she wanted to be. So, when her three sons left home, Jean left her home in Dumfries and moved to the paradise island to start a new life in 2005. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Jean had moved to Crete to start a new life after falling in love with the island while on holiday She worked there for three seasons before deciding to make the move a permanent one, saying goodbye to her boys and the small Scottish town where she had spent her whole life. Jean loved her new life, making a huge circle of both British and Greek friends, and working as a travel rep and then in restaurants and bars. Her sons admit they were initially worried because she had moved there alone but that they were reassured because she was such a popular member of her community. But just a few months after Jean decided to make Crete her home, her life was tragically cut short. Jean went missing on March 9, 2009, and her body washed up five days later in the town of Heraklion. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Michael, Robert and David have never given up on finding out what happened to their mum Chillingly, she was missing both her eyes and her hair and her three sons have never given up their quest to find out exactly what happened to their mum on the night she died. Her son, Michael, said: "Mum was a very strong-willed woman and a strong character, she was a great influence and the life and soul of the party. "Something was missing from her life and when she decided to stay for the winter I knew she wouldn't be coming back. "We went on holiday and she had a massive group of friends. "We were concerned that she was out there on her own because no matter how many friends you have, you're always vulnerable when you're on your own." https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Jean's sons were worried about her because she was living in Crete on her own Jean's sons weren't told of her disappearance until she had been missing for two days. They immediately flew out to Crete to do all they could to search for their beloved mother. The 53-year-old's meticulously kept diary reveals exactly what she did on the day she vanished. After waking up early because of a thunder storm, Jean did some washing and then went for a walk. She called into a local shop and spoke to a pal, where she noticed she had been followed by a green car. Jean then called into a restaurant in the village about a job for the upcoming season. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Restauranteur Yiannis Markakis says Jean seemed stressed when she left him She chatted to the owner, Yiannis Markakis, and enjoyed a glass of wine with him before suddenly becoming anxious. Yiannis said: "She left before finishing the wine, she seemed stressed, like someone was waiting for her or she had to be somewhere." After this, Jean's movements become a total mystery. Phone records show she called a friend from the nearby town of Heraklion but it's not clear if she was there, or if she was, how she got there as Jean couldn't drive. In the phone call to her friend, Jean tells him she's in a cafe in Heraklion with a Greek man, and her friend and the man chatted. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Jean sent her friend one last, harrowing, text message But then 30 minutes later, Jean sent the same friend a chilling text message, which simply read 'HELP'. He called her once more to check she's OK and she told him she was fine and still with the Greek man Jean's friend goes to bed and tragically misses the final call she ever makes at 9:45pm on the night she died. The popular mum had been due to babysit the following day and when she didn't arrive, the alarm was raised - but because she was an adult, police refused to take any action for 48 hours. By the time Jean's three sons arrived on Crete - determined to join the search - a body had washed up in Heraklion. However, David, Michael and Robert didn't suspect it was their mother after the coroner estimated the woman had been dead for 20 days and was in an advanced state of decomposition. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Michael says they were worried when she moved to Crete on her own Michael said: "We were still hopeful, even when we were taken to the morgue to identify the body. "Mum's clothes were on a table but they didn't prepare us for what happened next and that was the last time I saw her. "She had no hair left, no eyes and she had lost the bridge of her nose. She looked like a shell, it was heartbreaking." The brothers then had a death certificate thrust in front of them to sign but it was in Greek, which they couldn't read, and they refused. It said that Jean had fallen into the harbour and drowned. Michael, Robert and David insist their mother was afraid of water and would never have gone near the sea in the dark. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ete-Greece.jpg Heraklion harbour on the Greek island of Crete (Image: Getty Images/AWL Images RM) Ex-Chief of Police Vosilis Verykokidis told the brothers that 12mg of alcohol had been found in their mother's blood stream and that she could have become dizzy and fallen into the water. But Jean's sons remained convinced their mum's death was no accident. Delving deeper into her diary there were several mentions of a man called Nikos in the days running up to her death. He had asked her out for dinner, which she refused, and on another occassion he wanted to come round and she again said no. Then in December 2009, nine months after Jean's tragic death, a second post-mortem report was released by the coroner. In it he said she had also suffered a broken neck, a shattered cocyx and other bruises. https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...ean-Hanlon.jpg Vosilis Verykokidis insists Jean's death was a tragic accident (Image: Channel 5) The closed case was now re-opened with Vosilis Verykokidis insisting he had six officers working on it day and night. Two suspects were brought in for questioning, with one even creating a false alibi. They were both released without charge and the case closed, with officers insistent that Jean's death had been nothing more than a tragic accident. But her sons refused to give up, constantly keeping their mother's story in the news and even meeting the Greek ambassador. Six years after her death the case was re-opened and passed to a dedicated homicide squad. Michael said: "I was being asked to find and contact witnesses but it wasn't my job, I'm not a police officer. "It didn't give me confidence that they were taking it seriously." Heartbreakingly, after just a few months, police once again concluded Jean's death had been an accident and closed the case. Vosilis Verykokidis said: "There was no piece of evidence that wasn't used and there was no evidence of foul play. "I believe whatever happened, that it happened unintentionally." More than 10 years after their mother's death her sons are refusing to give up their fight to find out what really happened on that evening in March. Michael said: "People have suggested we have got to get on with life but our mum was our life and you can't just turn that off." |
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