The Felony Appeal Court of Larissa has found Eleftheria Dimopoulou and Christos Salis innocent of abducting Maria, due to doubts. The court did however give them suspended sentences (two years and 18 months, respectively) for false statutory declaration and false testimony.
In 2013 during a police inspection of a Roma gypsy camp near Farsala the authorities discovered the blond, five-year-old child and suspected that it may have been kidnapped. The case attracted international attention and highlighted the problems with illegal adoptions in Greece.
The two parents professed their innocence while the biological mother – Sasha Ruseva – was eventually tracked down in Bulgaria. Ruseva claimed that she gave her 5-year-old up for adoption as she had no papers or funds to return to her native Bulgaria.
