Alessandro Fiori, the 33-year-old
manager from Cremona found dead with his skull caved in in
Istanbul Wednesday night, had been in hospital in the Turkish
capital on March 15, sources said Friday.
This was one day after Fiori's cellphone and personal
documents were found in a bin in his hotel room.
Fiori's body was found in the sea in Istanbul Wednesday
evening, two weeks after going missing in the Turkish capital.
The head of Fiori, from Soncino near Cremona, was so
disfigured he had to be identified by DNA taken from his father.
His body had been carried by strong currents down to a point
opposite the famed Topkapi Palace, local sources told Italian
reporters.
Fiori went missing from his Istanbul hotel on March 14,
sources said.
He had left for a short holiday in Turkey on March 12, his
family said.
The family said he had not ran away from anything and was in
the habit of making short trips to places in Europe.
A DNA test has confirmed that the body is Fiori's, Italian
foreign ministry sources said Thursday, adding that the young
man's family have asked for their privacy to be strictly
respected.
Rome prosecutors on Thursday opened a probe into Fiori's
death.
Prosecutors are awaiting a first report on the case, the
sources said.
Fiori's documents, phone and empty wallet were found in his
Istanbul hotel room.
The discovery of the body was first announced by a RAI State
broadcaster missing-persons show, Chi l'ha visto? (Who has seen
him), which has been following the case.
The Turkish police have not ruled out the possibility that
Fiori committed suicide, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.
Fiori's body was found on the shore of the Sarayburnu
district in the Turkish capital, it said.
Fiori did not have a meeting set up in Turkey, his father
said Tuesday.
"I recharged the battery of Alessandro's phone and I
redialled all the numbers he had last called: there was no
stranger," said Eligio Fiori.
The father had a bad turn after identifying his son's body
and was unable to speak to the media.
Fiori's documents and cellphone were found in a bin in his
hotel room while his Italian bank account has been emptied,
sources said Sunday.
Fiori's suitcases and clothes were found in his room along
with his empty wallet.
Witnesses told Turkish TV they had seen him near the
Sultanhamet Hotel and then in a taxi that allegedly took him to
the city centre.
Eligio Fiori, the father, said he could "rule out he was
running away from anything" on Monday.
He said his son often took low-cost flights to places for a
few days when work permitted.
"My son left with a simple backpack so as not to have to put
his luggage in the hold," Eligio Fiori said on the telephone.
"It was a habit of his. That backpack was found in his room
at the Sultanhamet Hotel. I can't say anything else other than
ruling out it was a flit".
The manager reportedly told his tobacconist he was going to
Istanbul for a short holiday.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
