News Editor Ajda Ender
A 45-year-old business executive has died after she was abducted by her former partner, locked in the boot of a car and driven onto a motorway before being thrown from a viaduct, with her ex then jumping to his death.
Picture shows Lorena Isceri, 45. She was found dead this afternoon under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
Lorena Isceri and Federico Vella, 36, died on the A1 motorway at Barberino del Mugello, north of Florence in Italy’s Tuscany region, on 3 September.
Picture shows Lorena Isceri, 45, and Federico Vella, 36. She was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
Lorena, originally from Lecce in southern Italy but living in Florence, had reportedly ended her relationship with Vella several weeks earlier.
Picture shows Lorena Isceri, 45, and Federico Vella, 36. She was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons
Investigators believe he waited for her in the garage of her home in the Rifredi district of Florence before attacking her and forcing her into the boot of his car.
Picture shows Lorena Isceri, 45, and Federico Vella, 36. She was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
Lorena is believed to have briefly lost consciousness before waking inside the boot and finding a mobile phone in a backpack that had been left there.
Picture shows Lorena Isceri, 45, and Federico Vella, 36. She was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
She managed to call Italy’s 112 emergency number and also contacted a friend as Vella drove north towards Bologna.
Picture shows Federico Vella, 36. Lorena Isceri, 45, was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
Lorena reportedly told emergency operators: “Help me, my ex-partner has kidnapped me and wants to kill me. I don’t know where he is taking me.”
Picture shows the last social media post of Federico Vella, 36, saying goodbye. Lorena Isceri, 45, was found dead under a viaduct, the body of Federico Vella, 36, was found nearby in Barberino del Mugello, Italy. Note: Private picture. (Harrisons)
Police immediately began searching for the vehicle along the A1 motorway.
Investigators believe Vella then heard Lorena speaking on the phone, stopped the car and opened the boot.
Emergency operators reportedly heard him say: “What have you done?”
The phone signal was then lost after the handset was allegedly thrown away.
Police were later directed to the vehicle after receiving information about where it had stopped near the Lora viaduct, close to the junction between the A1 Panoramica and Direttissima routes.
Investigators believe Lorena was thrown from the viaduct, which stands dozens of metres above the ground.
It remains unclear whether she was still alive when she went over the edge, and prosecutors have ordered a post-mortem examination to establish how she died.
A motorway police patrol arrived while Vella was reportedly still on the bridge.
Officers tried to approach him and exchanged words with him before he jumped from the viaduct, according to local reports.
His final moments are believed to have been recorded by officers’ body cameras, while motorway CCTV is also being examined.
Rescuers found Vella’s body beneath the viaduct before discovering Lorena nearby.
Florence prosecutors have opened an investigation into the suspected murder-suicide, with detectives examining the couple’s relationship and the events leading up to the deaths.
Lorena worked as a manager in the veterinary pharmaceutical sector, while Vella reportedly worked in car rental and corporate vehicle fleets.
The pair had been together for around two years after meeting at a gym before Lorena ended the relationship following a holiday in the Greek islands, according to local media.
A friend named Samanta reportedly said she had urged Lorena to contact police because she feared Vella would wait for her outside her home.
She said: “I had warned her that he would wait for her under the house. Right up until yesterday I had asked her to go to the police and report him, but she told me she would get out of it herself.
“She was an exceptional woman, while he had revealed himself to be Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.”
Investigators are also examining Vella’s social media posts.
On 12 August, he reportedly shared a video containing photographs of the couple and wrote: “I will be yours even if I can no longer be.”
Hours before the deaths, he reportedly posted a black screen carrying the words: “Goodbye everyone.”
(Harrisons)
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