Femicide in Barberino di Mugello: Lorena Isceri calls 112 from the boot
Lorena Isceri, 45, abducted by her ex-partner Federico Vella and thrown from a 40-metre bridge. Autopsy scheduled for tomorrow.
From the boot to the bridge: Lorena Isceri's final moments
At 14:10, with her wrists and ankles bound by plastic cable ties and locked in the boot of her own car, Lorena Isceri attempts her last possible move. She addresses the man at the wheel — her ex-partner Federico Vella, 36 — and utters the words he had been waiting to hear for weeks: "Federico, calm down, I love you. We can get back together." This is according to La Repubblica, which reconstructed events on the basis of ongoing investigations.
Vella had not accepted the end of their relationship. Lorena, 45, was afraid of him and had moved away to Puglia, to stay with her family, to feel safe. That day, Saturday, she had returned to Florence. The man abducted her from her home and put her in the boot. The words of reconciliation were, for her, perhaps the most difficult to pronounce. But they change nothing.
The 112 call
Shortly after 14:00, while the car is moving, Lorena manages to grab her mobile phone and calls the 112 emergency centre. "I have been abducted, help me," she says. "My ex-partner has beaten me and put me in the car boot." She explains that she can hear the sound of the engine and the road. The operator immediately understands the gravity of the situation and stays on the line.
The car is located for a moment in the Novoli district of Florence, but tracking via mobile phone cells proves difficult with the vehicle in motion. After approximately one minute the call is transferred to the police station. The line remains open for another 19 minutes. The sound of a car door is heard. Lorena resumes speaking in a low voice, providing every useful piece of information: she gives the address she believes may be Vella's destination, but she is not certain because she cannot see outside.
The Barberino di Mugello bridge
Police attempt to locate the vehicle, but when they find it, it is already stopped on the Panoramica A1 bridge at Barberino di Mugello, 40 metres high. Officers and firefighters make a lengthy attempt to persuade Vella to desist. He throws himself into the void. Lorena was already dead.
Autopsy and investigations
Autopsies on both bodies will be carried out tomorrow at the request of the Florence Public Prosecutor's Office. The forensic doctors will have to establish whether Lorena died on impact with the ground or whether she was already dead before the fall — in the initial external examination no obvious signs of violence were reportedly found. The examination of Vella will serve instead to verify whether he had taken psychotropic drugs or other substances that may have altered his behaviour.
The file is being handled by prosecutor Antonio Natale. Police investigations are being directed by Domenico Balsamo, head of the mobile squad.
From the accounts of Lorena's family and friends, it emerges that Vella had previously shown jealous behaviour, and that after the break-up he had begun to send her messages in an obsessive manner. She felt persecuted, but had chosen not to file a report.
Source: la Repubblica