Authorities and the public have been shaken in recent hours by a case that reads like a crime novel with a tragic ending: a three-year-old girl was found dead early Sunday morning on Edem beach in Palaio Faliro.

Her body bore multiple injuries to the face — the forehead, eyes, lips, and nose — as well as visible bruises and trauma to various parts of her body.

The key question investigators are trying to answer is whether the injuries were sustained before or after death. In drowning cases, a lifeless body carried by sea currents can collide with rocks and sustain damage.

According to protothema.gr, statements have been taken from people present at the beach — one Greek and several Egyptian workers, one of whom discovered the child’s body and notified the police.

Initial indications suggest that none of them are connected to the incident. Their phones were also examined, confirming they had been at the same location for hours, as they had gone swimming.

The Egyptians reportedly work at the fish market in Keratsini, while the man who found the body has lived in Greece for many years.

Authorities estimate that the child suffered her injuries approximately three hours — around midnight — before the body was discovered. The exact cause and circumstances of death will be determined by the autopsy expected to take place today. The case has been taken over by the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Officials describe the available evidence as contradictory. The girl was wearing a bright-colored one-piece swimsuit, but was also visibly malnourished and injured.

No family members have come forward to claim her. There has been no missing person report, and no response to the Coast Guard’s call for identification. The mystery deepens, growing darker, more complex, and more puzzling.

Investigators are even considering the possibility that the child was an unaccompanied foreign minor, possibly from a migrant or refugee shelter.

The search has already expanded to include ports, marinas, and ships in the area, as well as migrant communities, in an effort to identify her.

Experts say that the child’s injuries do not match those typically sustained in a sea accident — such as being hit by a boat.

The pattern and severity of the trauma suggest the most likely scenario is abuse, possibly even murder. If confirmed, it raises two critical questions: Who did this, and why? And furthermore, why did they try to cover it up by dumping the child in the sea?

More developments are expected following the autopsy and completion of witness statements.