A new investigation into the suspicious death of a Scots mum on a Greek island 14 years ago has ruled it was foul play.
But prosecutors have told the family of Jean Hanlon, 53, that they cannot reopen the case.
The mum-of-three, from Dumfries, had been living on Crete, had gone missing and was later found dead in a Heraklion harbour in March 2009.
Her son Michael, 38, who has always believed his mum was murdered, said: “We now know for certain there was a crime. Someone else was involved. Someone knows something and someone is hiding something. They need to come forward and just tell us what they know.
“It has been 14 years and we know time is not on our side and, with forensics, the more time that passes the more difficult it becomes.
“Trying to find out the truth is not something you can simply just let go of. It’s not a choice – our mum always fought for us so it’s a natural instinct to want to fight for her. Until you go through something like this, it’s hard for people to understand how much you go into fighting mode and nothing will stop you.
“It’s a weird feeling for us now knowing this because it throws up so many more questions about what happened then.
“If the police hadn’t wasted so much time and had treated mum’s case with the respect she deserved, there is a really high chance we could have found out what happened.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Organised Crime, who have now confirmed Jean’s death wasn’t an accident but they told Michael and his two brothers that they had to close the case because they couldn’t find the evidence.
The family have vowed not to let the latest police decision stand in the way of their long campaign for justice.
Michael added: “Our family won’t give up.”
Jean had moved to the coastal village of Kato Gouves four years before her death to start a new life after a divorce. She had made new friends and had a job in the travel industry and did some bar work.
She went missing on March 9, 2009, after a night out. In the hours before her death, she’d spoken to friends on the phone after meeting a man at a bar and later sent a final text message to a pal saying simply: “Help.”
Her body was pulled from the harbour four days later. The Greek authorities at first claimed she had drowned. But after pressure from her family, a second post-mortem revealed she had suffered a broken neck, shattered ribs, a punctured lung and facial injuries consistent with a struggle.
The family’s campaign forced the Greeks to open a murder inquiry and two men, a Greek and a Belgian, were questioned. Both said they were innocent and were released without charge. Court officials ruled in 2012 that there wasn’t enough evidence for a prosecution.
However, Jean’s family didn’t give up and launched publicity campaigns for help.
Police decided to re-examine the case in 2019 when a documentary in Greece highlighted her sons’ search for justice.
But that investigation was later wound down after no new evidence was found. Then in March 2021 the family were given fresh hope of finding answers when Greek police launched their third probe. The case was passed to the Department of Organised Crime.
Jean’s family have been left frustrated. Michael said “We still haven’t established who the man she was last with at the cafe in the Port of Heraklion was. Why hasn’t he come forward if not guilty and how has he not been found? Our lawyer is going to review the police report to look at why they think it wasn’t an accident and see what we can do to have it re-examined or try other routes.
“It’s been a long road but we deserve to know and our mum deserves justice. Finally finding out what happened to our mum would mean the world to my brothers and I.
“Getting mum justice would allow us to finally grieve and remember our mum in a happier way.
“Mum was the life and soul of the party. She dedicated her life to her family. She was hardworking, always doing her best to make sure her children had the best they could.
“She was funny, strong-minded and had a zest for life which kept her young and popular. She didn’t deserve for her life to end like this.”
Neither the Hellenic Police nor the Ministry of Justice in Greece responded to the Sunday Mail’s requests for comment.
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