The latest twist in the disappearance and eventual discovery of the body of a 39-year-old man now focuses on a toxicology report in the hands of authorities, as the case attracted national attention in Greece since the victim’s mother is a top prosecutor Larissa under whose jurisdiction a team of judicial officials investigating the Tempi rail disaster belong.
The deadly two-train collision on the evening of Feb. 28, 2023, remains a sore point for public opinion in the country, with demands – especially by the victims’ families – being swift delivery of justice and a thorough investigation of the rail accident.
The disappearance and death of “V.K.” merely added another cog of speculation to scenarios and allegations of a “cover-up” of the Tempi collision, not the actual cause of the collision, but on the causes of a conflagration that followed.
According to a report on Mega Channel’s Live News program on Tuesday, the ill-fated 39-year-old, a psychologist who worked in a northern Greece primary school, is believed to have been prescribed medication that may have possibly contributed to his death – either from taking a bigger dose than required or by missing a dose.
The specific medication, per the Live News report, is used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, among others. According to the newscast report, the specific medication’s half-life is 33 hours, meaning that if the victim had not taken his prescribed dose within that timeframe, he may have faced a series of problems.
Another highlight of Tuesday’s news report touches on the conclusion, by coroners investigating the case, that all fluids usually associated with a body’s decomposition have been collected at the very spot where the victim’s remains were found. However, an investigation is continuing.
The man’s badly decomposed body was discovered after 50 days in a remote and craggy spot 18 kilometers due north from where he was last seen alive. He had left his cell phone at his parents’ residence in the city of Larissa, and according to reports, his prescription glasses were in a case by this side when his body was discovered by hunters.
The case continued to make headlines this week after the man’s parents referred to an “abduction and murder”, in statements to a first instance court prosecutor in Larissa.
The parents were asked to provide a statement after the man’s mother and uncle hinted, in comments over previous days, that V.K.’s death was the result of a criminal act.
The current center-right government, although it has more-or-less trounced the political opposition in three consecutive elections, remains vulnerable to criticism of its handling of the Tempi disaster, including social media-fueled allegations of a cover-up. The “cover-up” aspect over the past year or so hinges on the existence and transport of a contraband flammable cargo on the freight train that slammed into an ongoing passenger train. The claim was that the alleged contraband cargo, possibly solvents, ignited, set off a proven fireball and caused subsequent fires in the first carriage of the passenger train that burned and asphyxiated many of the victims.
Recently released videos and the leaked report of a top Belgian rail expert – hired by the company operating the trains, Hellenic Train – have “dampened” that scenario, however.
