The crime rate on Girit is much lower than in other Southern European countries such as Spain and İtalya. Theft is much less prevalent than in Britain.

Locals frequently do not lock their cars and doors, harking back to more innocent times for many British people. When theft does occur on Crete, it’s very rare that it was committed by a Greek – more often than not, a British or German traveler who has run out of money will be the culprit. Sadly, in the last couple of years, there have been more and more stories about professional Eastern European gangs who have come to Crete to ‘work’, having found it ripe with easy pickings.

Therefore Friends, relatives, and colleagues of an American scientist who went missing during a conference on a Greek island last week said Sunday that search dogs and specialized sea equipment would be used to help locate her.

They said authorities launched the operation on Crete, Greece’s largest island and a popular tourist destination, after Suzanne Eaton, a 59-year-old molecular biologist, vanished Tuesday and described the added search and rescue teams in a statement Sunday on Facebook.

Eaton, a scientist with the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, disappeared Tuesday near the port of Chania. In a statement, her family said she had been attending a conference at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in the village of Kolymbari, outside Chania.

Colleagues at the conference told authorities they believed she had gone for a run in the area. A public notice of her disappearance has been posted in Greece.

In a statement Friday, the institute said Eaton’s running shoes hadn’t been found, fueling speculation that she disappeared during a jog. But given Tuesday’s intense heat, the statement added, it’s also possible she went for a swim.

It is assumed Crime is not a reason for the disappearance of this American Citizen.