The Mitsero murders were a series of killings committed by Nikos Metaxas, a military officer in the Cypriot National Guard, between September 2016 and August 2018.
Unusually heavy floods in April led to the discovery of the first victim, Mary Rose Tiburcio, at a mine shaft near the village of Mitsero.
[1][3] The murders sparked criticism of the Cyprus Police, including by the then Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, regarding the force's indifferent attitude to the initial disappearances of the victims.
36-year-old Romanian woman Livia Florentina Bunea and her eight-year-old daughter Elena, both killed in September 2016, are thought to have been the first victims.
[7] Cypriot businessman Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of British airline easyJet, announced that he would donate €10,000 to each of the closest relatives of each victim.
[9] As of July 2019, he has been unable to contact the relatives of two of the victims, and has said that he will donate the additional sums of €10,000 each to Metaxas' eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter for their education in the meantime.