Through a methodical and highly targeted operation, officers from the Chania Sub-Directorate for Crime Investigation and Detection succeeded on Friday night in arresting a 43-year-old North Macedonian national, the tenant of missing woman Stavroula Leventaki’s property, whose disappearance has been at the center of an intensive investigation for weeks.

From his second statement to Chania Security Police, experienced investigators had already formed the view that the 43-year-old was concealing important information. For that reason, every move they made was carefully planned. According to information, officers deliberately allowed him freedom of movement, hoping he might lead them to the location where the 45-year-old woman could potentially be found.

It is notable that during his lengthy stays at Chania Police Headquarters, officers repeatedly summoned him for questioning and, according to sources, even offered him coffee on three occasions in an effort to gain his trust and encourage him either to reveal information or lead them to the missing woman.

However, when the 43-year-old realised that police had discovered significant evidence inside Stavroula Leventaki’s home, he reportedly attempted to disappear. By that stage, officers had already established a tight security perimeter around the wider area and left no part of the ground unmonitored.

Indicative of the pressure being applied is the fact that the foreign national did not manage to travel far from the house. Instead, he was forced to hide inside a vehicle, where officers eventually located him.

According to reports, detectives had surrounded him for approximately half an hour without intervening immediately, having overheard him speaking to someone on the phone. They reportedly waited for the call to end, hoping to gather critical information relevant to the case.

Immediately after his arrest, the 43-year-old was taken to Chania Police Headquarters. The arrest was carried out under the summary arrest procedure after cannabis plants were discovered in an area he was using during the investigation.

His detention now gives investigators the opportunity to continue questioning and attempt, throughout the night, to persuade him to reveal what happened to Stavroula Leventaki.

Blood Evidence Raises Serious Concerns

At the same time, evidence discovered inside the house is causing particular concern among investigators.

According to information, police found several small bloodstains on a television set, as well as another stain in the living room that reportedly appeared to have been superficially cleaned.

The mop believed to have been used to clean the area has also been sent to forensic laboratories to determine whether traces of biological material are present. At the same time, bloodstains found inside the suspect’s vehicle are also being examined.

Officers from the Chania Sub-Directorate for Crime Investigation and Detection believe that all evidence gathered so far points towards the possibility of criminal activity against the 45-year-old woman. Their objective is to obtain crucial information from the suspect regarding the location of her body.

Should the forensic findings and the ongoing investigation provide sufficient evidence, judicial authorities are expected to issue a warrant for his arrest on homicide charges, even in the absence of a confession.

The investigation remains fully active, with police continually assessing new evidence and witness testimony in an effort to establish with certainty the circumstances surrounding Stavroula Leventaki’s disappearance, should the criminal act scenario not yet be conclusively confirmed.

“My Life Is in Danger” – The 43-Year-Old’s Allegations

Speaking on the television programme Fos sto Tounel (“Light in the Tunnel”), the 43-year-old claimed that he has been receiving threats and has become a target following developments in the case.

“My life is in danger. I am Stavroula Leventaki’s tenant,” he said, alleging that pressure was being exerted on him to prevent him from revealing information about the 45-year-old’s disappearance.

He claimed that an armed individual entered his home and ordered him to remain silent, alleging that those actions were linked to people connected to the missing woman’s family.

He also implied involvement by the woman’s brother, claiming that the threats were connected both to the case and to financial disputes allegedly related to inheritance and property matters.

“From her brother and his friend. I’m in hiding because yesterday, just after the police left my house, three hours later a man came to my house and threatened me with a gun not to say anything.”

Journalist: “Who is threatening you?”

Tenant: “Stavroula’s brother, so that I don’t speak.”

Journalist: “Not say what?”

Tenant: “About Stavroula.”

Journalist: “Meaning?”

Tenant: “My battery is low. I’ve been missing since yesterday.”

The tenant continued:

“They came to the house. They knew exactly which day Stavroula would come. A man knocked on my door. I opened it, he came inside carrying a gun and wearing a hood. He kept me in the house. He said, ‘I won’t do anything to you. I just want to frighten Stavroula because she’s going to sign everything over to Giannis. I won’t harm Stavroula or you.’”

Journalist: “Was he holding you hostage at gunpoint?”

Tenant: “He wasn’t holding me hostage. He just told me, ‘You won’t tell anyone anything until I speak to Stavroula.’ He wasn’t holding me hostage. He told me, ‘You carry on as if nothing happened. We won’t harm Stavroula.’”

Journalist: “So you believe her brother sent this person to threaten you?”

Tenant: “Yes, so they could then keep Stavroula until she transferred Giannis’s property back to him. All the property they had.”

Journalist: “And why did he come to you?”

Tenant: “Because he knew Stavroula would definitely come to my house, exactly which days she would come. He was waiting for her to arrive so they could take her and make her transfer all the property to Giannis, her brother.”

Journalist: “So you are essentially saying that her brother was behind these threats and sent this man?”

Tenant: “Yes, yes.”

Brother’s Strong Response: “He’s Trying to Shift Responsibility”

Responding to the allegations, Stavroula Leventaki’s brother firmly rejected the claims, describing them as an attempt to deflect responsibility.

“I think this is his last card before revealing what he has done. He wants to remove responsibility from himself, and it suits him because there had been talk that my sister and I were not on good terms,” he told Fos sto Tounel.

He also expressed his belief that the 43-year-old is involved in his sister’s disappearance, stressing that, in his view, the case is unrelated to financial disputes.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with money. It has to do with something else that happened in that house at that moment… Did she see something she wasn’t supposed to see?” he said, leaving open the possibility that the 45-year-old may have witnessed something significant shortly before she vanished.

Speaking further on the programme, Stavroula Leventaki’s brother said he was troubled by the constant developments and contradictory information emerging in the case.

As he explained, the investigation appears to be changing direction continually, raising new questions that remain unanswered.

“Everything has been turned upside down again now… I’m waiting to see what changes next,” he said, noting that the situation continues to evolve in a way that intensifies the family’s anguish.

He also called for clear answers about what happened to his sister, adding:

“It goes from one contradiction to another constantly… I want my sister to be found and for him to tell us what he has done.”