Overview
- Italian consular officials reported that skeletal remains wearing a wetsuit and found with kitesurf equipment washed up near Benghazi in early July and are being investigated as possibly belonging to Mimmo Piepoli.
- Authorities pointed to a wetsuit, a kitesurf board and an attached tablet that appear to match Piepoli’s gear but said formal identification requires DNA testing by Libyan authorities.
- A large search after Piepoli went missing while kitesurfing off Porto Cesareo on May 1 covered nearly 100 square miles with aircraft, navy helicopters and divers and recovered only his inflatable kite.
- The Italian Consulate in Benghazi has formally requested Libyan examination and testing, the Foreign Ministry and the Scientific Committee for Missing Persons Searches are involved, and the foreign minister has contacted the family.
- If confirmed, the remains would illustrate how Mediterranean currents can carry bodies or equipment hundreds of miles, which can separate where an incident occurred from where evidence is found and complicate rescue and forensic work.