Suitcase with human remains retrieved from Cypriot lake

Investigators searching for bodies with a special camera in a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 27, 2019. Cyprus police are intensifying a search for the remains of more victims at locations where an army officer, who authorities say admitted to killing five women and two girls had dumped their bodies. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Investigators are searching for bodies with a special camera in a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 27, 2019. Cyprus police are intensifying a search for the remains of more victims at locations where an army officer, who authorities say admitted to killing five women and two girls had dumped their bodies. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

MITSERO, Cyprus – A diver has retrieved from the bottom of a man-made lake a suitcase that police officials in Cyprus say contains the decomposing remains of a woman, believed to be one of the victims of a military officer who has confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls.

The diver who recovered the suitcase on Sunday was wearing a protective suit due to the high toxicity levels of the lake that was part of a now-defunct copper pyrite mine.

Authorities say the 35-year-old army captain told investigators that he put the bodies of three of his victims into suitcases and threw them into the lake.

The retrieved suitcase is one of two that were located Saturday. Authorities are continuing to look for the third.