The boyfriend of British astrophysicist Dr Natalie Christopher, who fell to her death down a 65ft ravine, has spoken of his 'devastation' since the discovery of her body.
The 38-year-old Kyriakos Ashikalis, who reported her missing when she failed to return to their holiday hotel from a run on the Greek island of Ikaria on Monday, said it was hard to put into words how he was feeling.
A preliminary examination yesterday found that the 35-year-old’s death was accidental.
"Of course I am devastated and it is so hard to talk about what has happened," he told MailOnline.
"There will be a time when I can talk, but it is not now."
Mr Ashikalis had remained on the island while the search for his partner continued, but he planned to return his home in Nicosia, Cyprus over the weekend.
"There are a few things that still have to be sorted out and I will be here until they are finished," he said.
After she was reported missing, a team of police, firefighters, volunteers and coastguards scoured the area where Dr Christopher had been, an area of many paths that traversed along ravines and steep cliffs.
The 34-year-old was found just 600 metres from the hotel where she had been staying, police said on Wednesday.
Rescuers told Greece's state ERT TV that Dr Christopher appeared to have slipped.
Local television reported on Wednesday night that she had been found "lying on her back, crushed by several large rocks".
Coroner Nikos Karakoukis, who travelled to the island from Athens, said he found a large pool of blood under her head where it had struck a rock.
He said: 'There was a large pool of blood under her head. She has a very serious head injury. Everything shows that death came from a fall from a height. '
He said a further examination of the body and autopsy would reveal the exact circumstances of her death.A post-mortem was scheduled for Thursday.
A rescuer also told how Mr Ashikalis had to be restrained by police when her body was finally discovered.
The rescue worker said: “He was screaming and crying and tried to run up the track to be with her. He was distraught and pacing up and down and trying to get past the police. I don’t think he could believe that she was dead.
“I saw him later and he had calmed down, but his face was completely white. I have never seen someone so drained of any colour.”
Dr Christopher, a renowned astrophysicist, has conducted research at the European University Cyprus in the Astrophysics and High Performance Computing group.
She also launched the "Cyprus Girls Can" campaign to encourage women and girls of all ages to get more involved in sport.
She moved to Nicosia on Cyprus from London around 11 years ago.
