Police in Italy are investigating an Italian national who did not report his Moroccan wife missing, even though it has been almost two decades.
Rabat – Italian police in Settimo Torinese, northern Italy, have searched the house of Italian national Salvatore Caruso, 86, for the body of his Moroccan wife, Samira Sbiaa, who disappeared 17 years ago.
Caruso, who never reported Sbiaa as missing, is now under investigation for murder, reported Italian news agency ANSA on Thursday, March 21.
According to Italian authorities, an initial search found several weapons and revealed signs of human remains in the husband’s house. Police have used sniffer dogs and will conduct scientific tests which will require some time given the house’s dilapidation, said Giuseppe Ferrando, a prosecutor in Ivrea, a city nearby.
Nobody has heard from Sbiaa—who would be 49 now—since April of 2002.
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Sbiaa’s family members in Morocco had repeatedly tried to reach out to Italian authorities to look into her disappearance but their reports never reached the police, said Italian news outlet La Republica.
Last month, a women’s association called Asti, led by Moroccan Touria Bouksibi, reported Sbiaa’s disappearance to the Italian authorities.
Sbiaa and Caruso met in Morocco through a relative and got married soon after. After her marriage, Sbiaa rarely visited her family back in Morocco, according to Italian outlet La Repubblica.
