The disappearance 43 years ago from the beach of Mani that remains undiscovered to this day

The sensational case of the disappearance of the two-year-old Annoulas Triantafyllidis 43 years ago, in Mani, remains a great mystery to this day.

From August 19, 1981 until today, some have been searching for the traces of the little – then – Anna Triantafyllidis, who mysteriously disappeared before her mother’s eyes in the quiet coastal Skoutari of Mani.

The incident was unprecedented by the standards of the time and was the first disappearance of a minor in Greek history that took such a large extent and publicity, causing a great mobilization of the authorities, but unfortunately without ever finding a trace of the child.

43 years later, things haven’t changed. Annula’s disappearance remains a great and unsolved mystery and her father passed away without ever knowing what happened to his child.

The timeline of the extinction and the prevailing scenario

Little Annoula, 2 years old at the time, was on vacation with her family at her summer house in the quiet and seaside Skoutari Mani.

When the mother looked for the little girl for lunch, she was nowhere to be found. Her mother found only her friend at the scene. Annoula had disappeared on August 19, 1981 from the beach of Agia, in Skoutari, Mani.

The mother was looking for her on the beach, calling her name but Anna… nowhere.

According to the testimonies of bathers, the little girl headed towards the place where holidaymakers’ caravans were located.

Traces of car tires and footprints of a child that were found led to the conclusion that he was a victim of abduction.

Searches by divers, on the beach and in the caves, did not bring results. Teams of experts with trained dogs combed the area but found no trace of the little girl.

It was as if the earth opened up and swallowed him.

The photo of little Anna began to be published in the newspapers in case someone had seen the child.

The drowning version was quickly ruled out, as the child’s body would have surfaced. The accident was not considered a possible scenario, since, after long-term investigations, the lifeless body of the little girl would have been found. Everyone, relatives, authorities and parents were leaning towards the abduction scenario and probably by foreign holidaymakers.

A few days after the child’s disappearance, letters were sent to the child’s parents that hinted that a couple had abducted the child but nothing ever came of it.

The investigations never stopped. American criminologists put together digital sketches of what Anna would have looked like, grown up, at the ages of 17 and 28.

In fact, in 2013 there were two separate cases of women who had found common elements with the missing girl from Mani, but the DNA results extinguished any hopes…