Italian judge releases mother and relatives held over sisters' disappearance, orders them to stay in Latina province

The court's decision

A preliminary hearings judge in Sulmona, Giulia Sani, validated the arrests of three people held over the disappearance of two sisters from a family home in Civitella Alfedena. The judge did not order them back to prison, instead imposing the lesser measure of obbligo di dimora (residence requirement) in the province of Latina. Valentina D'Acunto, the mother of the two girls, her partner Vincenzo Esposito, and her father Marco D'Acunto must now report to the carabinieri twice a day to sign in. The ruling came at the end of a five-hour hearing that began around 9.30 on 25 June 2026.

“The residence requirement is a sufficient measure to prevent the perpetrators from repeating actions of this kind in future.”

The prosecutor's office had told the court that prison detention was not necessary, and Judge Sani agreed that the residence order was enough to avert the risk of the offence being repeated. After completing formalities, the three will return to their homes.

The disappearance and discovery

The sisters, Sarah Di Giacinto (12) and Alysia Di Giacinto (16), left the family home in Civitella Alfedena during the night of 7–8 June 2026. They were found two weeks later, on Sunday 22 June, in Formia, a town in the province of Latina. The girls were staying at the home of a distant relative of their mother, an 80-year-old woman initially described as an aunt.

The mother, her partner, and her father were arrested in the early hours of Monday 23 June, just hours after the minors were traced. A fourth person, the elderly relative who hosted the girls, is also under investigation but was not placed in custody.

The charge and the defence arguments

The three face a charge of aggravated kidnapping in conspiracy (sequestro di persona aggravato in concorso). During the validation hearing all three answered the judge's questions. The defence argued that the correct charge should have been child abduction (sottrazione di minorenni), not kidnapping. Judge Sani did not accept that argument.

“Valentina D'Acunto provided some explanations, but these are her personal convictions. Her objective was to have her daughters back with her.”

The prosecutor, Luciano D'Angelo, stated that investigations are not yet complete and that further inquiries remain open to establish any responsibilities of other individuals.

Legal next steps

Defence lawyer Luca Cupolino, who represents Vincenzo Esposito and Marco D'Acunto, said he would wait for the formal written reasons of the precautionary order before deciding on a possible appeal to the Tribunale del Riesame (review court). Valentina D'Acunto's lawyer, Enrico Mastantuono, said the mother and the other family members had regretted their actions and "taken cognisance of what they had done."

Family background

The girls had been living at the Civitella Alfedena family home because of a difficult separation between their parents. Both mother and father had previously lodged complaints against the home's staff, alleging inadequate supervision. The disappearance occurred a few days after news that parental responsibility had been removed from the mother. The father, Stefano Di Giacinto, rushed to the carabinieri station to embrace his daughters as soon as he learned they had been found.