Red hair clip found on trail in search for sisters missing 11 days from Italian foster home
A red hair clip believed to belong to 12-year-old Sarah Di Giacinto has been discovered on a path near the foster home in Civitella Alfedena, the first concrete lead in 11 days since she and her 16-year-old sister Alisya vanished.
A silent departure
Sarah, 12, and Alisya, 16, left the foster home in Civitella Alfedena, in the province of L'Aquila, during the early hours of Sunday 7 June, between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. They had been living at the facility for nearly two years after a difficult separation between their parents, Stefano Di Giacinto and Valentina D'Acunto, who live in Minturno. The girls slipped away without mobile phones or any immediate trace.
The first tangible clue
On Wednesday 18 June, a red hair clip was found on a trail near the home, the first concrete sign of the sisters' movements since their disappearance. A friend of Sarah later identified the clip as belonging to the younger girl.
A red hair clip that should be Sarah's has been found on a path near the foster home in Civitella Alfedena.
Alessia Natali, the regional coordinator for Abruzzo of the Penelope association, which supports families of missing persons, confirmed the discovery, calling it the first real indicator that the siblings used that route.
Search shifts to the mountains
Following the find, carabinieri cordoned off the access road to the home and redirected search teams toward the mountains, focusing on the La Camosciara nature reserve inside the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. A fire brigade helicopter flew at low altitude over the area, while a drone was deployed to scan the terrain. The search has also extended into the neighbouring province of Isernia, covering several municipalities along the Abruzzo-Molise border, including Montenero Val Cocchiara, Rionero Sannitico, Pizzone, Castel San Vincenzo, Rocchetta and Scapoli.
- Sisters disappear from foster home between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
- Last phone signal captured inside Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park
- Red hair clip found on trail; search refocused on La Camosciara reserve
Investigators probe third-party involvement
The Sulmona public prosecutor's office is investigating possible child abduction and abandonment following complaints filed by the parents. Authorities are examining whether someone helped the sisters leave. Surveillance cameras recorded vehicles passing near the facility after the disappearance, and investigators are now working to identify the cars and their occupants. Phone records reveal that two of three numbers the girls are thought to have had were registered to a man of Kosovar origin and to the partner of Alisya and Sarah's mother. The devices have been inactive for 96 hours as of 10 June, when the last signal was captured in the national park. The older sister's boyfriend, Youssef, an 18-year-old of Egyptian origin, has been interviewed as a witness.
They are with a relative in a secret place.
A family in pieces
Before their disappearance, the sisters had been taken from school in Minturno, in the province of Latina, and placed in care after parental responsibility was suspended. They were initially separated but reunited in 2024 at the Civitella Alfedena home. Searches of the parents' houses and a relative's home near Cassino have turned up nothing, and no evidence has emerged to pinpoint where the girls might be now.
