Italy - Stefania Puglisi, 6, abducted from San Giovanni Galerno, Decembe 6th 1981

[Megsc]

Name: Stefania Puglisi
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: December 6, 1981
Location Last Seen: San Giovanni Galerno, Catania, Italy.

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: Circa 1975
Age: 6 years old
Race: Unknown
Gender: Female
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

At 19.00 the evening of December 6, 1981, Stefania Puglisi disappeared from San Giovanni Galermo, a suburb of Catania on the lower slopes of Mt. Etna. She left her grandmother’s house to look for a cardboard box to put Christmas decorations in. She thought she could find a box at her house or perhaps at the dump adjacent to the working-class houses. Puglisi headed toward her house, which was only about fifty yards away. She walked the short distance carrying a little Pinocchio doll, her favorite toy.

In front of her doorstep she met a girlfriend; the two girls chatted a bit, but at a certain point their attention was attracted by something. They turned to look toward the darkness, near some houses under construction. There was a parked car, a light-colored Fiat 500, with a man in it.

According to an eyewitness, the man called Puglisi and she went toward the car, while the other girl turned and went home carrying her friend’s Pinocchio doll. Stefania was allegedly forcefully pushed into the car. Her mother arrived a few minutes later, and tried calling her in a loud voice, but to no avail. The girl has never been seen since. The eyewitness of the kidnapping allegedly received various threats, but it is not known from whom.

After Stefania’s disappearance, the Puglisi family received anonymous phone calls that reported Stefania’s presence in various apartments in the city. But when the police would arrive at the places indicated, they would find, instead of the little girl, weapons, drugs, and various stolen goods.

On January 23, 1993, twelve years after Stefania’s disappearance, Samuele Ventura was shot to death in the Picanello quarter, as he was returning to the Bronte prison. A year later a repentant Mafia man stated that the homicide had been committed to punish the person who had killed Stefania Puglisi. The Mafia had “executed” him. This claim has never been verified.

Stefania’s parents are convinced that it was a relative who kidnapped Stefania. The man had allegedly threatened their children a few days before Stefania’s disappearance. But the police have never given credence to this theory.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Chi L'Ha Visto
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: N/A
Agency E-Mail: [email protected]
Agency Case Number: N/A

202DFITA - Stefania Puglisi

 

[Megsc]

Also just want to share an article regarding the relative that parents think is responsible for the kidnapping, because I just don't understand why the police didn't look further into this theory :
Scomparsi | Stefania Puglisi: un mistero irrisolto da quasi 40 anni

It was December 6th and preparations were in full swing. The fir tree was decorated but something was missing. A box where Stefania would put everything that wouldn't be needed. Where to look? The little girl who lived in San Giovanni Galermo, a district of Catania , thought of checking her home or looking in the nearby landfill. which stood nearby.

A very short journey, the one from her grandmother's house that would lead her to look for the box, on which she decided to be accompanied by a trusted friend : a wooden toy Pinocchio that she held tightly to her. After leaving the house, the little girl met a friend named Enza . The two exchanged a few words after which Stefania walked away. She never reached the landfill. The little girl she had spoken to shortly before her reported a disturbing detail: three men had kidnapped Stefania. One of them, who was wearing a camouflage jacket , grabbed her arm and forced her to get into a Fiat 500 .

The little girl's parents immediately went to the investigators, also reporting who, according to them, had forcibly taken the little girl. It would have been the half-brother of Stefania's father , Riccardo Puglisi . But why make such a gesture? The couple reported that strong tensions had arisen between them and that, shortly before the events, the man had been in their house mistreating their sister-in- law and asking where the children were.
Furthermore, the woman told the investigators that Riccardo was in the military at that time and was wearing a jacket belonging to the uniform. Not only that, he had arrived in a Fiat 500 with a broken headlight.

In addition, Stefania's parents told the investigators that two other people had also witnessed the incident. In particular it was a teenager named Giuseppe Allia , who confirmed little Enza's version and added that he recognized Riccardo Puglisi. Stefania's friend added a detail about her: she said she had tried to save her, but to no avail.

The searches were activated many hours after the complaint was reported. Late at night the carabinieri began to take to the field with the dog unit. The dogs immediately launched themselves against a Fiat 500 belonging to Riccardo Puglisi. The four-legged agents then headed towards a house in a public housing complex that on paper should have been empty. Stefania's uncle had gone to the same place a few hours earlier and had started the search alone with his dog.

When the officers learned that the house was empty, they dispensed with carrying out a search. Yet that house had been assigned to the family of Riccardo Puglisi who already had the keys.

A woman, the man's neighbor, told Stefania's parents that Riccardo - the evening before the events - had rushed to speak to his mother , who seemed extremely shocked by what her son told her. Not only that, she would go out then hand him a blanket . Puglisi was heard by the investigators to whom he provided an alibi that was immediately dismantled.
Giuseppe Allia, however, the 15-year-old boy who saw the moment of the kidnapping like Enza, was never heard. Indeed, shortly after Stefania's death she followed a friend Mario Marchese abroad . The two never returned to Catania again.

The investigations stopped and it seemed that the case, which was covered by the editorial staff of the Rai program "Chi l'ha visto?", had ended up in a drawer. Yet this was not the case: in 2011 the family's lawyer, Gino Grassia, presented a request requesting its reopening , underlining all the shortcomings of the investigations and presenting new evidence. As part of some of his investigations, he listened to people who reported that Puglisi confided to someone at the time that he was able to find the little girl and know where she was. The man, however, has always denied any wrongdoing , actually reporting that he had once been kidnapped by his sister-in-law's brother who wanted him to tell the truth. But Puglisi said nothing, indeed stating that he could not say anything because he was not involved in the affair.

 

[Megsc]

Here's an age progression of what Stefania could look like at 51 years old which was made by Manisco World at the request of her mother

 

[John/Jane Doe]

202DFITA - Stefania Puglisi