Benedetta and Domitilla, two sisters aged 12 and 8 who went missing Friday evening in San Cataldo and were found yesterday afternoon inside a clothing store, have been transferred to a protected community along with their four other siblings. The six minors were living with their father. After being found, the two girls were taken by ambulance to Sant'Elia Hospital in Caltanissetta for medical checks and were subsequently discharged.
"My children must come back to me as soon as possible. It was just a prank." So says Alessandro Costanza, the father of Benedetta and Domitilla, aged 12 and 8, who went missing Friday evening in San Cataldo and were found yesterday afternoon in the store run by a Chinese woman who reportedly has a relationship with the father. The two girls and their four siblings have been placed in a community pending the ongoing investigation. In an interview with Tgr Sicilia, the man also played a WhatsApp voice message from the Chinese shopkeeper who found the girls yesterday at 5:03 p.m.: "Sweetheart, the girls are here, inside the shop." "I was convinced my daughters had left the store," the man added, "but instead the woman had lowered the shutter and they were still inside." When asked why he had not alerted the carabinieri on the evening of their disappearance, he replied: "I went around looking for them and thought there was no need to cause alarm." "We need to find evidence to support the statements collected so far," the carabinieri said.
The carabinieri investigation continues to determine how the two sisters, aged 12 and 8, who disappeared Friday evening in San Cataldo and were found yesterday afternoon, ended up inside the clothing store run by a woman of Chinese nationality. Investigators are trying to establish whether the girls arrived there on their own or were brought by someone.
The carabinieri are continuing to study footage from surveillance cameras in the area: yesterday they had asked Civil Protection volunteers to focus their search efforts precisely in the area where the store is located, which is near the girls' home. During the patrol, a woman reported seeing one of the girls inside the store. The volunteers entered and found both sisters. Shortly before the discovery, the shop owner had been questioned at the barracks and, upon leaving, had told journalists that the last time she had seen the two girls was the previous evening, around 7:40 p.m. After the girls were found, the woman was taken back to the barracks. It is not currently clear whether she is attributed any responsibility in the matter. Among the aspects under investigation is also the reconstruction of the hours that elapsed between the girls' disappearance and the report filed by the father with the carabinieri the following morning.
The two sisters have since been discharged from Sant'Elia Hospital in Caltanissetta, where they had been taken by ambulance for checks following their discovery. "They weren't talking. We asked them if they were okay and they said yes, but nothing more," said Manuel Bonaffini, a Civil Protection volunteer who took part in the search. At the time of their discovery, he added, the girls appeared calm.
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