Well-Known American Biologist Vanishes While Attending Conference in Crete

A top American molecular biologist has gone missing on the Greek island of Crete after heading out for her daily run, authorities said.

Suzanne Eaton, 59, was attending a conference at the Orthodox Academy near the port city of Chania when she vanished last week. She was last seen playing the piano at the academy, her family said.

Eaton went for daily runs and is believed to have gone jogging. Relatives searched her room and discovered her running shoes and shirt were missing. She left behind her phone, passport, watch and cash, her family said.

A Facebook page has been established to help fund search efforts on the island.

Greek authorities issued a public alert after Eaton's disappearance. Police, firefighters and volunteers are searching the area with dogs and helicopters. 

Eaton may have fallen from a running trail that covers rough terrain or succumbed to heat exhaustion in the area's hot temperatures, her family said. 

Eaton is a renowned biologist with the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany.  She is married to British scientist Anthony Hyman and the couple have two sons. Hyman and the sons have arrived in Crete, and are helping in the search.

She has been working in Germany for the past 25 years.

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