New evidence could help find the killer of Dumfries woman who went missing in Crete 15 years ago

Over a decade after Jean Hanlon was found dead in Crete, new evidence has been discovered which could lead to finding her killer.

Jean had moved to the Greek island to start a new life but went missing and was found dead in the sea off the harbour of Crete's capital Heraklion.

Her death was originally ruled as drowning, but last year, after a long campaign from her family, the Greek authorities confirmed that her death was the result of foul play but didn't take the investigation any further.

Jean's family have since hired a private investigator who they claim has unearthed new evidence which has led to the naming of a potential murder suspect in her death.

Her son, Micheal Porter said: "It was very much like, what can we do that we haven't already done over the past 15 years?

"This was our last resort, hire in the private eye."Amazingly, he's compiled this 29-page report of factual evidence."I don't believe it was a random attack, so when you know all this information about the suspect, it's surreal because it was all in front of our very eyes and it was in front of the police's eyes as well - and that's the most frustrating thing."Annoyingly and frustratingly, this person has only been interviewed once in the whole 15 years."

Jean went missing after an evening out in Heraklion in March 2009, and her body was found four days later.

A postmortem showed she had injuries consistent with a struggle, and her last text message sent to a friend read "Help me".The family's private investigator Haris Veramon believes that the case could be close to finally being solved.He said: "It's the first time that we have hopes.

"It's the first time after so many years, because the family know exactly who the suspect is, they know the motive, they know specific things."We are in a good position right now. Sure. We have many clues, evidence and witnesses."The new evidence has given hope to Jean's family who've been fighting for justice for a decade and a half.Micheal said: "I'm never going to ever have her back, sadly, and that's the sad thing, but maybe then we would be able to let her go and appreciate that she is gone and grieve properly."I'm 100% hopeful that, we're going to do this, I keep saying mum we're nearly there, we're nearly there and we've got your justice."

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