Newly released surveillance footage has become a central piece of evidence in the investigation into the death of British volunteer Elisabeth-Jane Ross, appearing to show an Afghan boxer wheeling a large suitcase through the streets of Athens just hours after prosecutors believe the 38-year-old was killed.

Greek police allege the suitcase contained Ross’s body before it was abandoned at a derelict building in the city’s Kypseli district. The suspect, 26-year-old Sharif Ahmadzai, was arrested earlier this week and is expected to appear before magistrates as investigators continue building their homicide case.

Ross, who was also known to friends as Lisa, had spent years volunteering in Greece, helping refugees, homeless people and other vulnerable communities through Christian aid organizations. Her death has stunned those who knew her, particularly because police believe the suspect was someone she trusted through shared humanitarian work.

According to investigators, CCTV cameras recorded Ahmadzai arriving at Ross’s ground-floor apartment on the evening of July 15 in a vehicle belonging to his wife, American missionary Christian Alaina Hall.

Police believe Ross was killed inside the apartment sometime after her final confirmed phone call to a close friend at approximately 9:41 p.m.

Hours later, additional surveillance footage allegedly captured Ahmadzai pulling a wheeled suitcase through Athens during the early hours of July 16.

The footage reportedly shows him walking down the middle of a road while pulling the large suitcase and carrying a blue backpack.

Investigators say he headed toward an abandoned parking structure in the Kypseli neighborhood, where Ross’s remains were later discovered.

Approximately 13 minutes after entering the derelict property, cameras allegedly recorded Ahmadzai leaving the location without either the suitcase or the backpack.

Detectives believe those recordings establish the route taken after Ross’s death and form an important part of the evidence gathered during the investigation.

Police sources say investigators spent days reviewing surveillance footage from multiple cameras across Athens before identifying the suspect’s movements.

Authorities eventually focused on Ahmadzai after receiving information from someone very close to him.

According to police, it was his wife who first alerted investigators after becoming increasingly concerned about his behavior.

Hall allegedly told detectives that she awoke during the night of July 15 to discover her husband was gone.

Using a location-sharing application on their mobile phones, she reportedly found that he was at Ross’s apartment.

At the time, Hall apparently did not know anything had happened to the British volunteer.

Her suspicions reportedly deepened after Ross’s body was discovered and police publicly announced they were investigating her death.

Investigators say Hall subsequently left the family home with the couple’s baby and checked into a hotel.

Police allege Ahmadzai later attempted to give her €2,550 in cash along with a new Apple iPhone 17 Pro.

Rather than accepting the gifts, Hall reportedly turned both items over to investigators because she believed they may have been purchased using Ross’s money.

That information prompted detectives to intensify their investigation.

During a subsequent search of the couple’s residence on Aug. 1, officers reportedly recovered a black replica Glock-style pistol and a military-style knife.

Authorities have not alleged that either item was used in Ross’s death, and investigators continue examining evidence collected during the search.

Police also traced Ross’s mobile phone after it unexpectedly became active again days after her disappearance.

Investigators immediately located the device at the Athens residence where Ahmadzai was staying, according to police sources.

When questioned, Ahmadzai allegedly admitted using Ross’s bank cards to withdraw money.

Police also claim he acknowledged using her phone to send messages to family members and friends while pretending to be Ross.

Those communications reportedly raised concerns among her loved ones because they differed noticeably from her usual writing style.

Friends later told investigators they became suspicious after receiving messages claiming Ross wanted to be alone and planned to leave unexpectedly.

They described those statements as completely out of character.

According to police sources, Ahmadzai has denied killing Ross.

Instead, investigators say he claimed he found her already dead in the bathroom of her apartment.

Authorities have not publicly explained how Ross died or disclosed the precise cause of death while forensic examinations continue.

Police have also revealed an alleged motive that emerged during interviews with Hall.

According to investigators, Hall said her husband told her he had argued with Ross because she wanted him to join what he described as a stricter Christian religious group.

A police source said Ahmadzai allegedly told his wife that Ross’s efforts to persuade him had become overwhelming.

Detectives continue investigating whether that alleged disagreement played any role in the events leading to Ross’s death.

Before his arrest, Ahmadzai had built a remarkable public story centered on survival, faith and helping others.

Born in Afghanistan, he has frequently spoken about losing much of his family during decades of conflict.

According to his published biography, his father, a military commander, survived multiple Taliban assassination attempts before being killed in an ambush when Ahmadzai was only three years old.

Years later, his older brother was allegedly kidnapped by the Taliban and never returned.

He has also described losing his mother, sister and younger brother in a suicide bombing, leaving him orphaned as a teenager.

Using his remaining family savings, Ahmadzai said he fled Afghanistan and undertook a dangerous journey through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey before eventually reaching Greece in 2016.

He has recounted witnessing fellow migrants die during the journey and surviving multiple failed attempts to cross the Aegean Sea.

After arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos, Ahmadzai entered the overcrowded Moria refugee camp, where he reportedly taught himself English and began working as a translator for humanitarian organizations.

It was there that he met Hall, an American volunteer who had traveled to Greece to assist refugees.

The pair developed a friendship before eventually beginning a relationship several years later.

Ahmadzai converted to Christianity, moved to Athens and later married Hall in 2023.

Together they founded Love Every Nation Athens, a ministry focused on supporting refugees and vulnerable families.

The organization distributed food, prescriptions and other assistance while also organizing community activities for children and young people.

Ahmadzai also became involved in amateur and professional boxing after training in Athens.

Competing as a super lightweight, he fought twice professionally, recording one victory and one defeat.

His personal journey from refugee to boxer and missionary became the subject of promotional material and an upcoming book titled From Hell To Home: How Loss, Exile And Hope Built The Man I Became.

In promotional writings, Ahmadzai described overcoming extraordinary hardship and encouraged others to believe that hope could emerge even from devastating circumstances.

One passage declared that “no matter how dark your story is, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.”

Those public messages now stand in stark contrast to the allegations he faces.

Ross herself had dedicated years to humanitarian work.

Originally from Edinburgh, she regularly traveled to Greece over the past seven years, volunteering with organizations that supported refugees, particularly people fleeing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iran.

She had previously worked with One Heart, an organization providing medical assistance to displaced people, before joining another Christian-based charity in Athens.

Ross arrived in Greece on June 26 and initially stayed with friends in the port district of Keratsini before moving to accommodation on Rethymnou Street on July 2.

Police say that apartment belonged to the organization with which she was volunteering.

Investigators believe Ahmadzai and Hall possessed keys to the property because of their involvement with the same ministry.

The investigation intensified after detectives pieced together CCTV footage from Ross’s apartment, surrounding streets and the abandoned building where her remains were found.

Authorities now believe the surveillance recordings establish a timeline beginning with Ahmadzai’s arrival at Ross’s residence on July 15 and ending with his departure from the derelict property carrying neither the suitcase nor the backpack seen earlier.

Greek prosecutors are expected to present that evidence as the case moves forward.

Ahmadzai is scheduled to appear before magistrates in Athens, where investigators are expected to outline the allegations against him.

As the criminal proceedings begin, detectives continue examining digital evidence, financial records and forensic findings while seeking to establish exactly what happened during Ross’s final hours.

For Ross’s family, friends and fellow volunteers, the investigation has transformed the death of a woman devoted to helping others into one of the most closely watched homicide cases in Greece this year.