Missing Italian teen's body found after boyfriend admits to murder

Lecce (Italy), Sep 13 (IANS/AKI) Search teams in Italy's southern Puglia region on Wednesday found the corpse of missing 16-year-old Noemi Durini after her 17-year-old boyfriend confessed to murdering her.

Durini's body was found under rocks along a highway in the town of Castrignano del Capo, some 16 km south of her hometown of Specchia, from where she vanished early on September 3.

Durini's boyfriend is under investigation for her murder and his 41-year-old father is suspected of being an accessory to the murder, local daily La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported, citing police.

Durini's parents were both taken ill upon learning her body had been found.

A Specchia resident's security camera filmed Durini with her boyfriend inside a Fiat 500 car belonging to his parents shortly before Durini disappeared in the early hours of September 3, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported.

Durini's boyfriend claimed he dropped her off by a sports field in Specchia after they spent the evening in a local discotheque, but police became suspicious when he repeatedly contradicted himself while giving them his version of events.

In recent days, a video reportedly surfaced showing Durini's boyfriend using a chair to smash up a car belonging to a friend of hers, giving credence to earlier claims by Durini's mother that he was violent.

Durini's mother previously lodged a complaint with local magistrates against the youth over his allegedly violent behaviour, causing a rift between the two families.

Chillingly, just days before she disappeared, Durini posted a photo of a young woman with a severely bruised and swollen face to Facebook, captioning the photo: "If he hurts you, it isn't love."

--IANS/AKI

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