Once they set foot on the harbor, began an adventure that surpasses a thriller movie script.
It only took a few minutes 30 year old George Karamichailidis from Thessaloniki to disappear.
In vain his girlfriend partner was looking for him in the dark port. Instead her boyfriend, she saw on the coast police jeep his bag. He was vanished…
Two fishermen, who saw him for the last time in the harbor, cannot clarify the mist around this case.
The show received hundreds of messages from George friends and strangers, asking for help to bring to light the truth that some people on the island kept well hidden.
“Tunnel” traveled to the island of mystery and revealed new evidence and elements in this strange disappearance.
As the tangle of enigma unfolds it gets clear that night of August 30 2016 someone who attacked the unfortunate young man are responsible for his loss.
George had a panic attack, and got confused. He went on a fishing boat he found in the harbor of Votsi and untied the ropes. At that time two fishermen who were in an inflatable boat nearby, assumed he was a thief and one thing led to another …
“I repelled him” claims the “harder” of the two, “and he fell into the sea. We saw him swimming in the harbor and he was gone … “.
Witnesses who spoke to “Tunnel” give a completely different picture. They argue that George was badly hit by a fisherman before he was lost.
The family lawyer Mr. Nikos Dialinas found in “Tunnel”’s studio with George mother, his cousin and his friends, said:
“The district attorney of Volos ordered additional investigation and sent the file to the Coast Police of Alonissos. From our point of view the Port Authority cannot handle the case, Volos Police should intervene. The Judicial Authority has to assign the case to the Police. From our side we will ask for representation, in which we will call scientists, under the presence of the Prosecutor “.
What the diver found
Diver Vangelis Papatzitzes in a telephone intervention in “Tunnel”, spoke about the surveys conducted in Votsi harbor area for fifteen days.
The next morning after the disappearance of George, the sea was calm although blurred. Then he found the T- shirt of the missing man at the harbor entrance. It was not turned upside down.
The second day of investigations, he found his pants and his underwear, ten meters away from the T-shirt in the port. Neither these clothes were turned inside out.
The diver did not rule out that the clothes were put there. He said that from the beginning there were significant omissions in the investigations. According to his opinion they did not search at the sea area outside the harbor the first critical days, as a swimmer as the missing man , could not go far. He said also that the port authorities did not take testimonies from everyone and that would be effected a representation.
Did the clothes have blood marks?
The geneticist Mr. George Fitsialos Angeliki Nikolouli asked him if he could detect blood on the missing man clothes, replied that they can be tested with modern methods.
He said: “They were found in the sea, so they have been naturally washed. If there is a usable quantity of biological material, it will not be detectable with a naked eye. Special techniques will be required.”
Omissions and defaults
• The clothes and the bag of the missing person were found at the sea, were not investigated by the Forensic.
• Nor the knife which according to the owner of the fishing boat , was found broken on it.
• The child of one of the two” key”- witnesses who gave a completely different picture of what happened that night, was not examined. He claimed that his father hit George, and “blood came out from his mouth”.
What claims the “key”- witness to “Tunnel”
The “key”- witness to the strange disappearance of George, told “Tunnel” ’s camera his version of what happened the night on August 30, 2016.
He said he was with a friend in an inflatable boat and they had gone for fishing earlier. With them was his eight year old son. They arrived at the port at nine o’clock in the evening. He left his son at their house, bought souvlaki and returned to the boat in order to leave for night fishing.
Once his friend turn on the engine of the inflatable boat, they heard voices from a fishing boat, which was at some distance. An unknown was shouting: “Turn on the lights and come close…”
They asked each other who he was and what he was saying. Soon afterwards the stranger threw a bag into the water, he also jumped in the water and began to swim towards the boat in the harbor of Votsi.
When he arrived he threw his bag in the hatch and pulled the balloon trying to climb into the inflatable boat.
“I was scared, I grabbed his arms from his wrists, pushed him and he fell back into the sea. After that I threw his bag into the water” claimed the witness.
The two fishermen then informed the Coast Police Station and the owner of the boat who arrived immediately.
The chief of the Coast Police Station of the island, searched with them the port. They found no trace of George, only his bag floating in the harbor. Inside there was the ticket with which he had traveled to Alonissos so they learned the name of the unknown swimmer.
According to the witness, the incident happened at half past nine. The two men with the inflatable boat were within four to five meters from the fish boat which George tried to take out of the harbor.
“I was on the dock and I was trying to untie the ropes to leave. The sea that night was calm, but at the harbor was no sufficient light “said the witness.
As he said at the time was not able to know if George was in shock and tried to protect him and his friend.
“If at that time he was coming up the boat he would throw us in the sea. We did not know what we were facing with what he was saying. ”
At a relevant journalist‘s question was categorical.
“I did not hit him! I took his hands from the balloon, I pushed him away and threw his bag back into the sea. “
For the rumors that want his eight year old son said to his friends that he hit the missing person , took his bag and opened it, the witness replied that nothing like that happened. He believes that he is accused unjustly and that this is due some black pages of his past.
“I do not fear anything and that is why I am talking to the show. Personally I did not participate in the surveys for George. I think he had left and that something else is happens in this case. I have confidence in your show. I wish that he would be found. If anyone knows anything could help in order to find the man … ” he concluded.
“They believed he was a villain and throw him into the sea…”
Detailed description of the owner of the fishing vessel, give a different picture from what the amateur fisherman said.
Nikos Stellas, owner of the fish boat which the missing man attempted to steal from the harbor spoke to “Tunnel” ’s camera, from the place where all happened.
When they called him and went down to the port a few minutes before 10 p.m., he found the vessel at a distance of about twenty meters from the pier. The only thing that was holding the boat was its anchor.
In the port a smaller boat was searching something. Soon he realized that on it was his brother who had also been informed about the incident and had reached the point earlier. Together with two fishermen, were searching with flashlights to find the man who had untied the boat from the dock and was lost at sea.
Next to fish boat three boats with tourists who did not understand the fuss that had been created.
He claimed that one of the two fishermen saw George untying the ropes and jump in to the boat. He feared but did nothing while he was waiting for his friend with who would go fishing.
As claimed the owner of the vessel to the show, he found on the boat a broken knife with which George tried to break the padlock to unlock the door of the captains’ room. Indeed the two fishermen heard the noise he made in an attempt to break it.
They assumed that it would be probably some illegal action. In the past there have been incidents of theft at the bank and in villas on the island and the perpetrators tried to escape with ships that were in port.
The two fishermen reported to the owner that asked to tell them the stranger what he was doing in the boat.
He responded that it belonged to him. They realized that something was wrong and continued to talk to him. Then he threw the bag into the sea and then he also jumped into the water. He tried to hold on to their inflatable boat and told them to give them a hundred euros to go away with him. They were scared and pushed him away.
“He looked like villain who wanted to escape. Indeed, in an effort to swim faster he left his bag. Out of the blue, we got into trouble. He did not asked for help and we did not help him. He entered into the boat with a purpose. If I was there, I would defense myself. The two fishermen wanted to save my property, ” said the witness.
“I heard voices in the night …”
That fateful night the fisherman George Papavasileiou was fishing with his children at a distance of about a hundred meters off the port. Suddenly he heard from the side of the cliff, voices. The noise of the engine of the boat did not help him to hear clearly the words. As he did not know the incident he did not pay attention. When at around half past one a.m. returned to the port, he was informed of what had happened.
The witness claimed that he had visual contact with the site but did not notice any movement.
“If we knew what had happened, we could notify the Port Authority when we heard the voice. Especially at night when we fish in calm waters, we see billfishes jumping, couldn’t we detect a human? At that time there was no other boat out of the harbor, but the port authority did not inform us. They said they were searching at the land, who looking to the sea? They lost precious time… ” he said.
After the video with his testimony that was heard on the show, a resident of the island asked to intervene .
She stated that the son of this fisherman, the day after the disappearance, said that the voices were heard from the port and not from the cliff. The time was around half past nine . and not at half past eleven , as his father claimed.
Mother: Witnesses told me who beat my child …
“I think that I will turn my head and see my George coming. I did not expect that my child would go for vacation in such a beautiful island and someone would call me and tell me that he was lost. ”
Tragic figure the mother of the missing young man Matoula Koutrotsiou. For months she is trying in every way to synthesize the absurd riddle of the disappearance of her son. Speaking to the broadcast camera, she described the desperate effort of George finding work.
“He emigrated because our Greece did not help him to stay here. He studied nursing assistant had searched everywhere for work and finally went to Brussels to seek his faith. ”
He had said that he was tired and needed a holiday so he chose to visit beautiful Alonissos for the first time with his girlfriend.
“Recently he was facing panic attacks. For some reason he did not feel well that night and went for a walk to the harbor. After that his whereabouts were lost. He was an excellent swimmer to drown. I searched everywhere. If close my eyes I know the island inch by inch…”.
For twenty two days mother and friends of George who came from abroad, and the locals, were searching for him without results.
She expressed on camera her complaint that the people who saw her child for the last time did not go to find her.
“I heard many from the locals, everyone told me that a particular man did something bad to my child. He deals with weapons and if so, how says he feared George? I do not want to blame anyone, I want my child… George was naked, his clothes with his money were found, his mobile phone, a lighter. His shirt was found at the bottom of the harbor and his pants and underwear outside off it. A diver found one his shoes. They told me that they heard a child saying that someone beat and bleed my child and then he pushed into the sea. Witnesses were threatened to be silent… ”
Her dramatic appeal leaves no one unmoved.
“Since I lost my child I struggle every day. I am climbing a Calvary without end… If anyone knows anything I ask him to talk even anonymously… I want to light a candle to his memory…”.
“Our vacation became a nightmare …”
Nothing presaged what would follow when they started their summer holidays.
Konstantina Karamerou met George three years ago in Brussels. Since last year they moved in together. Like every summer they came to Greece for holidays and chose as destination Alonissos.
Their three-hour trip to the island began on August 30 at nine in the morning when they boarded on the catamaran from Thessaloniki.
Around noon, the ship arrived in Alonissos, but George stood motionless at his seat and stared out the window. Konstantina poked him, gave him the bag, took her suitcase and went to queue. George was behind her.
In the dock she realized he was not with her. She went back aboard and searched, but she did not see him anywhere. She assumed that he would come down to the harbor and did not notice him. The catamaran continued its journey and when she managed to communicate by telephone with George, he said he was confused, that he did not understand that they were arrived and went to the toilet, so he remained on board.
Finally they met at 8:00 p.m. when the ship returned to Alonissos.
“I realized when I saw him that he was not feeling good. I suggested to leave the next day and he agreed. We went to the guesthouse we had booked and after a while he took his bag saying that he would go out for a walk. He did not let me go with him. He preferred to stay alone to calm down. Around half past nine a.m. I started looking for him. ” told” Tunnel “.
While she was searching, she met someone in a pub who informed her that at the port an episode had happened. Someone had tried to steal a boat and disappeared.
“It seemed very funny to hear this because George would never do something like that. But when I saw his bag in the cost police jeep, I realized that it was him, “she said.
Konstantina who actively involved in investigations in order to find the unfortunate young man, appeals for a response that will end her agony.
“There are two witnesses and we all count on them. We want a clearer answer about what happened that night, “she said.
“We want to know the truth that is hidden from us …”
The childhood friend of the missing young man Vangelis Almpanidis spoke to “Tunnel” from the island.
He knew about the health problems faced by George and from the first time along with many other friends arrived in Alonissos to take part in surveys for determination.
He believes that the two fishermen who saw him for the last time, hide the truth.
“We must move legally procedures,” said to the show. “There are serious information that has not been investigated by the authorities and are not in the file. George used to help people, I ask anyone who knows something about the case to speak … ” he concluded.
From his part, the Mayor of the island Petros Vafinis , told “Tunnel” that according to the information he received from the Port Authority, the young man swam out of the Votsi harbor. Nobody knows for sure if he lost his orientation, if he tried to get out or if he got lost .
“It is really a mystery. Everyone on the island was shocked because a young person was lost, “he said.
Mayor of Alonnisos, described to “Tunnel” that at the investigations which began immediately at sea and ashore and lasted a month, attended men of the Coast Police, forces of Fire department, volunteers divers, rescuers and a helicopter of the Air Force which had thermal camera and researched not only Alonissos but also the surrounding islands.
“It hurts as if he is my son, I cannot described in words the emotions someone feels in such tragic moments,” said at “Tunnel” the uncle of missing person, Kostas Koutrotsios. He referred to the many questions that torment the family about the circumstances his nephew was lost and crying out for answers.
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