Italian authorities place six siblings in state care after missing sisters found in shop

Search and discovery in San Cataldo

Two sisters, twelve-year-old Benedetta and eight-year-old Domitilla, were located on Saturday, 19 September 2026, after a 21-hour search across San Cataldo in the province of Caltanissetta. The girls disappeared on Friday evening from their home, prompting a search operation involving Carabinieri, State Police, municipal Civil Protection teams, and local residents. Volunteers located the two children around 17:00 inside the bathroom of a clothing store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, situated a few meters from their family residence. A passerby had alerted searchers after noticing one of the children inside the premises. The sisters were transported by ambulance to the Sant'Elia hospital in Caltanissetta for routine medical examinations, where doctors found them in good physical condition and subsequently discharged them. Manuel Bonaffini, a Civil Protection volunteer who took part in the search, described their immediate reaction upon being found.

“They were not talking. We asked them if they were fine and they said yes, but nothing else.”

Inconsistencies in the timeline

Investigators from the Carabinieri and the Caltanissetta public prosecutor's office have focused on contradictory statements regarding when the sisters entered the business. The 40-year-old father, Alessandro Costanza, told authorities that he last saw the girls at home around 20:00 on Friday, when he left for ten minutes with his 10-year-old son to buy bread. The store manager, a Chinese national reportedly in a relationship with the father, stated to reporters and investigators that she had seen the girls inside the shop at 19:40 on Friday evening. Investigators have seized the commercial premises and are analyzing surveillance camera recordings from the surrounding streets to determine whether the children entered alone or were escorted. Costanza did not file a formal missing persons report until Saturday morning, having conducted an initial search on his own without alerting authorities overnight.

Custody transfer and family background

Following their hospital discharge on Sunday, 20 September 2026, Italian authorities transferred Benedetta and Domitilla, along with their four siblings, into a protected community facility. The six minors had been living with their father under a sole custody arrangement established in 2024, while their mother, who is of foreign origin, resides in another city following the couple's separation. Judicial records indicate that both parents were previously reported in 2023 for alleged mistreatment of the children, which had resulted in an earlier temporary placement of the minors in social care. Speaking to television reporters after the transfer, Costanza maintained that the disappearance was an innocent misunderstanding and insisted that the children should be returned home promptly.

“My children must return to me as soon as possible. It was a prank.”

Continuing prosecutorial inquiries

The Caltanissetta prosecutor's office continues to evaluate potential criminal liability while questioning both the father and the shopkeeper. In an interview with regional media, Costanza shared a WhatsApp voice message sent by the shopkeeper on Saturday at 17:03, in which she stated that the children were inside the shop. Costanza claimed that he believed the girls had walked out before the shopkeeper lowered the security shutters for the night. Chief Prosecutor Salvatore De Luca stated that the full sequence of events remains unclear and requires exhaustive verification before determining any formal charges.

“further investigative follow-ups are absolutely necessary to identify any responsibilities”

Carabinieri investigators continue to examine the discrepancies between the witness testimonies and the recovered camera footage.