Georgian police search for killer of Australian woman

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian police said on Wednesday they were searching for the killer of an Australian woman whose body was found in the woods outside Tbilisi late last week.

The woman, who went missing on Friday, had been walking in the hills outside Tbilisi when she made a phone call in distress to a friend, who notified the police.

On Saturday police said they had found the body of a foreign citizen after several hours of intensive searches and that a criminal investigation had been launched.

Police told Reuters that the woman, who worked as an English teacher, had been attacked. They have not publicly named her.

As part of the investigation, police have searched the woman's house and spoken to her neighbours and friends.

Georgia's Mtavari TV showed footage of police carrying a body out of the woods at night, sealing off the scene and searching for evidence among trees and bushes.

(Reporting by David Chkhikvishvili; Writing by Alexander Marrow, Editing by William Maclean)