Police suspect body in burnt Rio car could be that of missing Greek ambassador, says report

Brazilian police suspect that a body found in a burnt vehicle in Rio De Janeiro is that of Greek ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis, who went missing three days ago, Globo channel reported.

Ambassador Amiridis was reportedly seen last on Monday, (26 December) departing from the home of his wife's friends, which is in a poor and violent neighbourhood of Rio, police said on Thursday. A police official from Rio said his wife reported him as missing on Wednesday.

Evaristo Pontes, police inspector from Rio, told a local newspaper that he did not believe Amiridis was kidnapped. "We're following some leads, but not that one. If it had been (a kidnapping), those who took him would have made contact by now," he added.

The Brazilian television channel aired pictures of the burnt car in the Nova Iguacu neighbourhood. In its report, the channel said that the licence plate of the car matched that of the vehicle that the ambassador rented.

A Greek embassy official in the capital Brasilia did not confirm that the ambassador was missing and said he was on vacation in Rio and is expected to be back in Brasilia on 9 January.

The diplomat previously served as Greece's consul general from 2001 to 2004 in Rio. He was also Greece's ambassador to Libya from 2012 and he accepted the Brazil post in the beginning of this year.

According to Reuters, the Greece foreign ministry offered no comments. The Brazilian foreign ministry also said it had no comment on the case, which it said was being investigated by the police.