A missing kitesurfer’s decomposing body has been found in a wetsuit washed up on a beach in Libya over 500 miles away from where he disappeared.
Mimmo Piepoli, 39, a father-of-two from Erechie in Brindisi, southern Italy, vanished while kitesurfing off the coast of Porto Cesareo on May 1.
A major search operation was launched within hours of his disappearance but failed to find any trace of the experienced surfer.
Italian authorities confirmed on Monday a body had been discovered on a beach in Benghazi, Libya, in what local authorities described as an "advanced state of decomposition”.
The remains were found dressed in a wetsuit with an attached tablet, leading officials to believe they could belong to Piepoli.
The Italian Consulate General in Benghazi said it was working with Libyan authorities to identify the remains.
In a statement, the consulate said the body had been discovered "with a wetsuit and a kitesurf board that appear to belong to Italian Mimmo Piepoli, who went missing at sea on May 1 during a kitesurfing trip off the coast of Puglia”.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has been in contact with the missing surfer's family, alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the mayor of Erechie, Giuseppe Margheriti.
Mimmo Piepoli with his partner Carla Solazzo in 2023
|FACEBOOK / MIMMO PIEPOLI
However, authorities stopped short of definitively confirming the identity of the remains.
They said DNA testing carried out by Libyan authorities would be required before any formal identification could be made.
The consulate said in its statement: "The necessary investigations to identify the body are underway. Confirmation of the identity will be possible only after DNA testing."
It added the Consulate General had formally requested Libyan authorities to initiate the necessary examination procedures and was continuing to monitor the case with a view to the possible repatriation of the body.
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Porto Cesareo, where Mr Piepoli vanished while kitesurfing, is located on the heel of Italy
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If confirmed to be Mr Piepoli, the remains will have travelled several hundred miles from the Italian coastline to Libya.
Porto Cesareo, where Mr Piepoli was last seen, is located on the heel of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula, facing the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
The currents and winds in that part of the Mediterranean are capable of carrying objects significant distances over a period of weeks.
Mr Piepoli was described as an experienced kitesurfer, making his disappearance all the more unexpected for those who knew him.
His partner posted a heartbreaking message on social media in the days before the body was found, describing the anguish of two months without news.
She wrote: "Two damn months, that I don't see you...that I don't touch your big hands, it's been two months since I haven't heard your voice, always delicate, calm...two months of questions, without answers...two months of silence, agony, anguish...I miss you."
The discovery has offered the family the painful prospect of at least knowing what may have happened, though formal confirmation remains pending.
The Italian Foreign Ministry said it would only be possible to confirm the identity of the remains once DNA testing had been completed by the relevant Libyan authorities.
The Consulate General in Benghazi has formally requested that those procedures be initiated as a matter of urgency.
The family and Italian authorities are now waiting on the outcome of the testing before any further steps can be taken, including the possible repatriation of the body to Italy.
Mr Piepoli is survived by his partner and their two children.