A 38-year-old Scottish missionary who spent two decades serving her Edinburgh church was found dead inside a suitcase in an abandoned Athens building, and Greek police have arrested a 26-year-old man who admitted moving her body.

Lisa Ross, also known as Elizabeth-Jane Ross, had traveled to Greece on June 26 to volunteer with a refugee support group in Athens. Three weeks later, on July 18, police discovered her remains stuffed into a suitcase inside a derelict building in the Kypseli district of the Greek capital. The man arrested in connection with her death, understood to be from Afghanistan, told authorities he transported Ross's body to the site. He also used her bank cards to withdraw money after she died.

Peter Anderson, pastor of City on a Hill church in Edinburgh, where Ross had been a member for 20 years, posted a video tribute on the church's Facebook page describing the loss.

"Lisa's life was all about mission. She had been to many places and served people."

Anderson called Ross "a very precious girl" and said her death was "a tragic loss." He acknowledged it had been a "really tough week" for the congregation.

Three days between Ross's last contact and her disappearance report

The timeline Greek police have assembled raises hard questions. Ross arrived in Greece on June 26 and stayed in the Kertasini area of Piraeus, a port city near Athens, until July 10. Five days later, on July 15, she told Greek friends she was heading to the Kypseli neighborhood to meet "American friends."

She was reported missing several days before July 18, though the exact date of that report has not been disclosed. Her body was found on July 18. The gap between her last known contact on July 15 and the discovery three days later leaves a narrow but critical window investigators are still trying to fill.

Greek police said they are working to trace the "American friends" Ross mentioned. Whether those individuals exist, whether they had any contact with Ross, and whether the meeting ever took place remain unanswered.

Replica pistol and knife recovered from suspect's home

When police searched the arrested man's residence, they recovered a replica pistol and a knife. No formal charges have been publicly identified in the available reporting, and the man has not been named. Authorities have fast-tracked a toxicology report to determine Ross's cause of death, which has not yet been established.

The fact that the suspect admitted to transporting Ross's body and used her bank cards afterward paints a damning picture, but key details, the cause of death, any prior relationship between Ross and the man, and the total amount of money withdrawn, remain unknown. The case against him will hinge on what the toxicology results and further investigation reveal.

Ross's death is a grim reminder of the dangers faced by Christians who volunteer in unstable or high-risk environments overseas. Her church described her as someone whose entire life revolved around mission work, a woman who had "been to many places and served people." She was doing that work in Athens when she was killed.

The persecution and violence that Christian missionaries and communities face around the world is not new. In Nigeria, a massive prayer movement emerged after thousands of Christians were killed by Islamic militants. In Pakistan, courts have failed believers repeatedly, most recently when the Supreme Court acquitted all three men convicted of burning a Christian couple alive in a brick kiln.

Ross's congregation in Edinburgh now joins a long line of Christian communities left to grieve members lost while serving others.

A 20-year church member who lived for service

City on a Hill is an independent Christian church based in Edinburgh and the Lothians region of Scotland. Ross had been part of the congregation for two decades, more than half her life. Anderson's tribute made clear she was not a casual attendee but a core member whose identity was bound up in the church's missionary work.

In other parts of Europe, Christian families have faced institutional hostility alongside physical danger. In Sweden, one family fought the government after their daughters were seized over their faith. In Pakistan, courts blocked a Christian family from reaching their daughter after an alleged forced conversion.

Ross's story is different in its specifics but familiar in its shape: a believer who went where the need was greatest, and paid for it.

The refugee support group Ross volunteered with has not been named publicly. The nature of her work, and whether it brought her into contact with the man now in custody, is among the open questions Greek authorities have yet to answer.

Lisa Ross spent her life going to hard places to help people nobody else would. The least her case deserves is a full accounting of how she died and who is responsible, and the kind of justice that too many Christians abroad never receive.