Body of American tourist found on picturesque Greek island, latest in string of missing or dead foreigners

An American tourist was found dead on a beach on the Greek island of Mathraki on Sunday, the latest in a string of foreign tourists found dead or reported missing in the picturesque holiday paradise in the past week, authorities said.

The remains of the missing American were discovered around 1:30 p.m. local time on a beach near the old port of Mathraki Island, the president of the Mathraki Island municipality told ABC News.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

The man was last seen Tuesday at a tavern in Mathraki, west of the island of Corfu, where he was staying with a Greek-American friend, investigators told ABC News.

The friend called police when he returned home on Thursday and found the front door open, the lights on and the air conditioning running. However, there was no trace of the missing American or his identification and travel documents, according to investigators.

There is no police station or coast guard in Mathraki. Police officers from Corfu have been called in to assist with the investigation.

A forensic pathologist travelled to the island on Sunday to conduct a preliminary examination, the island’s president, Mathraki, said. The body will be taken to the nearby island of Corfu, where an autopsy will be performed, officials said.

This is the second time within a week that an American tourist has been reported missing on the Greek islands.

The search continued Sunday for a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy who has been missing since Tuesday on the Greek island of Amorgos, officials said. The retired deputy, identified by Greek authorities as 59-year-old Albert Calibet of Hermosa Beach, California, was reported missing when he failed to return from a hike, officials said.

A drone video obtained by ABC station KABC in Los Angeles shows rescue crews searching the rocky terrain where Calibet was believed to be wandering.

“It makes us sick because we know he’s out there somewhere,” Calibet’s friend Debbie Leshane told KABC.

Leshane said Calibet called her shortly before he left for a hike. They spoke for about six minutes and Calibet later sent her a photo of the signpost around 9:20 a.m. local time on Tuesday. That was the last she heard from him.

According to the Associated Press, a missing 74-year-old Dutch tourist was found dead on the eastern Greek island of Samos on Saturday.

The body of the Dutch tourist, whose name has not been released, was discovered by firefighters using a drone. He was found lying face down in a ravine, 300 meters from where he was last seen.

According to officials, observers reported that the Dutch tourist had some difficulties hiking in the triple-digit heat that prevails over the islands.

Some of the five tourists who were missing or found dead were probably hiking in sweltering temperatures.

On June 9, Dr. Michael Mosley, a well-known British television presenter and author, was found dead on the island of Symi. A coroner concluded that he had died around June 5, shortly after embarking on a hike through dangerous, rocky terrain.