There had been no news from them since April 20, when the family left municipality of Castell’Arquato (Piacenza) to go and spend a few days of holiday in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Now Sonia Bottacchiari, 49, and her two children, both aged 14 and 16, were found in the province of Udine.
But let’s rewind the tape and start from the beginning. Sonia Bottacchiari had decided to spend some vacation days in the company of her two children and 4 dogs. The woman’s idea was to stay at a campsite in Gemona, in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Not before, however, she resigned and collected her severance pay. The family packs their bags and leaves by car from the province of Piacenza. However, the group will never arrive at the Gemona campsite. They seem to have completely disappeared, evaporated. The alarm is raised by Sonia’s ex-husband, Yuri Groppi — separated from the woman since 2012 — the first to realize that something wasn’t right. Furthermore, the phones of Sonia and the boys had been unreachable since April 21st.
On May 6, the family’s car was founda gray Chevrolet Captiva, parked regularly in Tarcento, in the province of Udine – but without the camping tents inside. But there is no trace of them. From that moment on, in-depth research began throughout the area. In the meantime, the Piacenza prosecutor’s office has opened a file and is evaluating various hypotheses; the charge was later changed from child abduction to kidnapping, a move that allowed the methods of investigation to be broadened, including the analysis of the woman’s digital devices.
The searches in the area of the province of Udine were intense: over one hundred rescuers including carabinieri, firefighters, dog teams and volunteers searched all the surrounding areas, up to the border with Slovenia. During these hectic days, a letter from Bottacchiari was found – addressed to her father and found by the Sky TG24 correspondent – the contents of which led investigators to speak of a “situation of great suffering” and did not exclude serious hypotheses, including that of suicide; however, authorities have remained tight-lipped about specific details.
Fortunately, this possibility was averted, in fact on Tuesday 12 May the authorities announced that Sonia Bottacchiari and her two children had been found. The discovery occurred thanks to the joint work of the Carabinieri of Piacenza and Udine, coordinated by the Emilian prosecutor’s office. Second the Piacenza Prosecutor’s Office said all three were in good health and in an adequate housing situation. The investigators, for now, are keeping confidential the circumstances of the discovery and how the family spent these days. What is certain is that the investigations continue, the prosecutor’s office and the police will continue their work in order to ascertain dynamics, motivations and responsibilities.
