Fiorenza Sarzanini (photo by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert).
Noand the first six months of 2023, 13,031 people disappeared. 6,297 were found and this means that there is no further news of over 6,700. Over 9,000 are minors, as confirmed by Maria Luisa Pellizzari, extraordinary commissioner of the government.
It’s true that many kids leave voluntarily and then return, others are taken away by one parent at war with the other, still others are homeless foreigners. But it is equally true that many are victims of very serious crimes and this is what is alarming.
The most striking case concerns Kataleya Alvarez, the 5-year-old girl taken away on June 10th from a building occupied by Peruvian families. She lived there with her mother and other relatives, at first it seemed that the crime would be solved in a few hours. But months have passed and nothing more is known about her.
It would be nice if, at the time of publication of this column, the little girl had been found safe and sound. So far all the investigative paths taken by the police have yielded no results.
Murder, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion, pedophilia, revenge for a mistake between criminals: every hypothesis was explored and studied in depth, but was then set aside due to lack of evidence. And with the I suspect that Kataleya’s parents know much more than they are telling, but have chosen to remain silent for fear of retaliation or even to avoid being accused of complicity in the disappearance.
It had already happened in the past. Angela Celentano and Denise Pipitone they disappeared and after many years no one is able to say what could have happened. Angela was 3 years old, on 10 August 1996 she was on a trip to Monte Faito, near Naples, with her parents. She played with other children. The couple said they suddenly lost sight of her and since then the little girl has been swallowed up as if in a black hole.
Exactly like Denise Pipitone who, according to her aunt, disappeared while playing on the sidewalk in front of the house on 1 September 2004 in Mazara del Vallo.
Unsolved mysteries which after so many years are still concentrated in the family environment, leaving open the doubt that even a minimal clue, useful for discovering the truth, may have been kept silent even simply by believing that it was not important.
What could be done better and in addition to what is being done to protect children? Write to us at [email protected]
All articles by Fiorenza Sarzanini
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED