Italian family minister's husband missing after incident on Lake Vico
Luigi Cavallari, the husband of Italy's Minister for Family, Birthrate and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella, disappeared in Lake Vico on Saturday afternoon while on a boat with his wife. Search and rescue teams, including divers, combed the lake as authorities worked to reconstruct the events.
Incident on the lake
On the afternoon of Saturday 27 June 2026, Luigi Cavallari, the husband of Italian Minister for the Family, Birthrate and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella, disappeared in Lake Vico. He was aboard a small boat with his wife in the Località Fiorò area. At some point, Cavallari entered the water, and witnesses reported that he failed to resurface. Italian media reported that it is still unclear whether he intentionally dove into the lake or fell from the vessel.
Search and rescue
Emergency services were quickly alerted. Carabinieri from the Ronciglione company, fire brigade units, and 118 medical personnel arrived at the scene. Divers from the Carabinieri's underwater unit and the fire brigade's diving squad were deployed to search the lake. The operation was ongoing as of early evening, with no official update on Cavallari's condition. The carabinieri are also investigating to piece together exactly what happened, interviewing those present and the minister herself.
The setting
Lake Vico is a volcanic lake in the Lazio region, roughly 80 kilometres northwest of Rome. It is a popular spot for boating and swimming. The lake's waters are generally calm, but depths can reach over 50 metres in parts, complicating underwater search efforts.
Minister Roccella
Eugenia Roccella has served as Italy's Minister for Family, Birthrate and Equal Opportunities in the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She is a long-time journalist and politician. As of Saturday evening, her office had made no public statement, and authorities refrained from releasing further details about the incident.
