The report, issued by district attorney Panagiotis Angelopoulos in 1999 and handed over to the Karalis family in Melbourne only recently, is clear: “from the depositions of the witnesses and the sum of the documents, expert reports, coroner and forensic reports and other evidence, there is credible evidence that the death of the two cousins is due to a criminal action and murder charges should be pressed.”

The murdered cousins in question were George Loizos and George Karalis from Melbourne, who were found dead, early in the morning of June 3rd, 1998, in the South Euboan gulf sea, near Nea Makri. Two decades later, their deaths remain a mystery.

These days, the Karalis family is in Greece, in order to hold a memorial service at the Euboan Gulf and Eleni Karalis, George’s still-grieving mother, wants to take this opportunity – along with the publication of the attorney’s report – to express her hope that “someone who knows something might come forward, or somebody from the authorities show interest and research this case” that has affected herself, her family and other families.

Before leaving for Greece with her husband, to pay tribute to the memory of their son and nephew, Eleni Karalis sent this letter to Neos Kosmos:

“I am a mother whose heart has been crushed by mourning and grief. As these days mark 20 years since the murder of these two boys, it is with anger that I demand for justice to be served, in order for my endlessly tormented heart to be appeased. Since people have yet to come up with an answer, I turn to God and ask Him: what happened on that fateful day? The boys went from Nea Makri to Euboea on a boat, to visit their parents’ village. It was a beautiful day and they were very happy. What happened? Why did they never come back?

“All was lost for me since that day. Some said that they killed themselves. This is a lie I never believed. Unfortunately, I could not do anything about this lie all these years, since some in the Authorities got to cover things up.

“After a hard fight, as you must have read, the attorney issued a report stating that the boys were murdered. Now, after 20 years, we have this report in our hands and we want everyone to read it so that they can learn the truth.

“At the same time, I want to urge anyone who knows something about this murder to not be afraid and come forward. If anyone keeps this secret, they are protecting a murderer. Let them speak before it is too late. Tell all they know. I know and I am certain that many know about the killing, but are afraid to speak. As a death-stricken mother, I implore them to talk.”

Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Eleni Karalis said that her family cannot afford to hire a lawyer in Greece, nor are they connected with politicians in Greece, that might pursue this case.

“We have no connections with the Greek media either, that could also look into it” she says. “This should not be concealed. When the Loizos family kept on with the investigation to find the killers, they received death threats.”

Eleni Karali is especially disappointed with the way the Greek Authorities handled the issue. Having no doubt herself that the boys were murdered, she was shocked to hear that the prevailing theory is that Loizos was murdered and Karalis committed suicide. The victims’ relatives believe without a doubt that the two close, who were very close were wrongly targeted by hired contract killers.

Given that the two cousins were Australian citizens, the Department of Foreign Affairs initially followed the case very closely, but this didn’t lead to anything, but Eleni Karali and her family will keep on fighting for the truth to come to light.