The police are treating the case of a woman found dead in Marsalforn Valley yesterday as “a suspicious death”.

Although the wounds she suffered could have been due to foul play, they could also be the result of a fall, assistant commissioner Silvio Valletta told a crime conference this evening.

The woman was found naked face down in a pool of water at about 1.15pm yesterday by a man walking his dog. The police are still searching the area for her clothes and possibly a handbag.

There were several places she could have fallen from to end up in the area where she was found,  Mr Valletta said.

He told the conference that although it was probable that the woman was a 72-year-old Dane who was on holiday on the island with her son-in-law, his brother and two grandchildren, DNA tests were to be carried out to establish 100 per cent that it was her.

Mr Valletta said she was currently the only person missing in Gozo.

She was reported missing by her son in law at the Marsalforn police station on Friday at 6.30pm.

He told the police that the family were out shopping in the Marsalforn/Victoria area when the woman distanced herself from them and never returned.

They arrived in Malta on July 17 and were staying in a rented house in Marsalforn. They were due to leave Malta yesterday afternoon. It was their first visit to Malta.

The son in law also told the police she had been carrying a handbag, which has also not been found.

After the son in law lodged the report, a search was carried out by the Civil Protection Department and the Armed Forces of Malta but it yielded no results.

Mr Valletta said the autopsy, carried out today, had so far been inconclusive mainly due to the body’s advanced stage of decomposition. The woman suffered a blow to her head, bruises to her chest and a broken rib.

However, experts said that none of these were fatal so further tests were being carried out to identify the cause of death. Asked whether the woman suffered from any condition, Mr Valletta said the police were not informed that she did.

He said that although the police were not yet sure of the identity of the woman and the cause of death, they decided to hold the conference because of speculation surrounding the case.