NICOSIA (AP) — A police spokesman on the east Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus says a suitcase containing decomposing human remains has been dragged out of a toxic lake.

Andreas Angelides said Tuesday’s discovery is a “major development” in the unfolding investigation of a Cypriot army captain who has confessed to the killing of seven foreign women and girls.

Angelides said coroners examined the body at the scene while more specialized tests will be carried out to determine the person’s identity.

This is the third suitcase containing a body that has been retrieved from the lake following a six-week search.

The 35 year-old suspect had told investigators that he disposed of the bodies of a Filipino woman and a Romanian mother and daughter in the lake after placing their bodies in suitcases.

Cyprus Special Disaster Response Unit investigators carry a covered suitcase on a stretcher after it was retrieved from a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero, outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus Special Disaster Response Unit and investigators transport a suitcase from a boat after it was retrieved from a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero, outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Inside the travel suitcase is believed to be a body of a woman, one of the victims of a Cypriot military officer who has confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus Special Disaster Response Unit and investigators transport a suitcase from a boat after it was retrieved from a man-made lake near the village of Mitsero, outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Inside the travel suitcase is believed to be a body of a woman, one of the victims of a Cypriot military officer who has confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)