First picture of Brit woman 'stabbed to death by boyfriend' while working as Santa tour guide in Lapland

This is the first picture of a British Santa tour guide allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend in Lapland.

Rebecca Johnson, who was working as a seasonal worker in the Finnish resort, was found by police on Saturday.

It is believed the 26-year-old - who gave guided tours to see Santa - was killed by her Czech boyfriend in Kuttanen, Finland, after an argument.

Police helicopters and huskies tracked the man after he fled into the freezing wilderness, where he was found suffering from hypothermia.

Speaking to the Courier, the great-aunt of Rebecca, who was from Fife in Scotland, paid an emotional tribute.

Val Laing said: “Rebecca was a beautiful girl.

© Facebook Rebecca Johnson has been described as a "beautiful girl"

“I had come home from Edinburgh when her granddad was on the phone to tell me what had happened. I couldn’t take it in at first.

“For her parents and grandparents to lose her just before Christmas is
 devastating."

British workers typically stay in the region – which is 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle – in peak season from late November to January.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also confirmed the young woman’s death.

A spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British national who died in Finland on 3 December.”

© Rex Just a few hours earlier in the day, a mayor and two female journalists were killed in a southern Finnish town

Just a few hours earlier that day a mayor and two female journalists were killed after being shot in the head by a man with a rifle in the southern Finnish town of Imatra.

The victims were outside a restaurant at midnight when they were shot in the head and torso by the man.

Police apprehended the shooter and the restaurant Vuoksenvahti, in South East Finland, has been cordoned off.

One of the victims has been named as mayor of Imatra Tiina Wilén-Jäppinen, who was "on a normal night out" with the other two women, local newspaper Ilta Sanomat reports.

Tiina, in her 50s and a mother-of-two, was said to be a "long-term influence" to the people of the town.

The alleged gunman was standing in front of a parked car outside of the restaurant when police arrived.

Police say they do not yet know the alleged shooter's motive for the crime but do not believe he knew the victims.

A 23-year-old man has been arrested.

Health officials said they had opened a crisis center in the town.

Imatra has 28,000 inhabitants and is about 140 miles from Finland's capital, Helsinki.