Turkish media and police are trying to find a 33-year-old Italian man who went missing almost two weeks ago after only being in Istanbul for a few days. The missing man's family has been searching for him in Turkey and has appeared on a TV show urging the Turkish public to help look for their son.
On March 12, Alessandro Fiori, an Italian manager from Soncino, landed in Istanbul, where he had flown without informing anyone, including his family. According to his father, Eligio Fiori, who spoke to Daily Sabah on the issue, Alessandro Fiori was planning to visit Turkey as a tourist for a week or so. "Just like he did in Sophia and St. Petersburg before," the father said, pointing out that he was already a frequent backpacking traveler. According to Italian media outlets, Alessandro Fiori reportedly told his tobacconist he was going to Istanbul for a short holiday, which confirmed his fathers' remarks on the issue.
However, before long, the journey of the young Italian man in Istanbul, which can be followed through security camera footage, takes a different route. He first checks into a hotel named Sultanahmet located in the very busy and touristic district with the same name, just like any other tourist who visits the city.
Then, things get a bit strange since the next day he leaves the hotel without his wallet, credit cards and other belongings, which were later found in a trash bin at the hotel. His backpack was also found in his hotel room. From there, he goes to the district of Şişli and tries to check in to another hotel, the Hotel Cevahir, which he fails to do since he did not have enough money. Then, he goes to Cevahir Shopping Mall where, as the footage shows, he eats and hangs out between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Following his lunch break in the mall on March 14, Alessandro Fiori was last seen walking toward İstiklal Street in the crowded and busy Beyoğlu district, where he disappeared. The research afterwards revealed that his Italian bank account was empty, just like his wallet in the trash bin.
It did not take long for his father, who is a professional with experience in the international field and the president of the Rotary Club of Soncino, to realize that his son went to Turkey as his credit card receipts show. However, he failed to reach his son, which eventually led him and his wife to come to Istanbul to look for their son.
When he asked for help at the airport in Istanbul and explained the situation, people directed him to the TV show "Müge Anlı ile Tatlı Sert" (Bittersweet with Müge Anlı), popular in Turkey and based on finding missing people by involving the public in the cases. The program has even been praised by security officials for its success in investigating and finding people. Soon after, Eligio Fiori finds himself on Turkish TV channel ATV on a show broadcast live every weekday, making the case public while enabling him to reach to the whole of Turkey.
When he was asked as to why his son might have chosen to travel to Istanbul, Eligio Fiori said it was probably a cheap flight, implying that there are no reasons in particular as far as he knows. He also expressed to Italian media outlets that he last saw his son at their family home only one day before he flew to Istanbul, while denying that he fled, despite the many rumors surrounding the case, including one about a mental disorder. According to the TV show's team, who are currently conducting an investigation on the issue, Alessandro Fiori had a mental illness and was using drugs, which might be the reason behind his unexplainable actions. Fiori also confirmed his son's condition to Daily Sabah, yet, with a twist.
"It's true that he had a mental issue. However, it was last year when he went into a depression. At that time, he was using drugs as well. The only drugs he uses now, however, are sleeping pills," he said, denying that his son's illness has anything to do with the current situation.
Although making the case public enables it to reach more people and broadens the scope of the investigation, the number of people claiming to have seen Alessandro Fiori has also increased, making it harder to separate real witnesses from fake ones. Some have called the show claiming that they saw Alessandro Fiori in some place or another, failing to portray an accurate image of him.
"I saw a foreigner at Şişli Etfal Hospital. His English was bad. His hands were red, and there were red spots on his cheeks as well. Yet, I did not understand anything he said," a person who called the program said, claiming that he looked like Alessandro. Yet, while the audience member described the man she witnessed as a somewhat long-haired, short man, Alessandro Fiori, according to his father and pictures of him, is short-haired man with a height of 1.80 meters, which is not a height that is typically considered short. Still, the host of the show, Müge Anlı, and her team took the case quite seriously, including each possible witness and trying to retrieve the hospital records.
Although the police, who are searching everywhere including hospitals and morgues, excluded the possibility of terrorism for now, Eligio Fiori says he will stop until he is sure he knows what happened to his son. Having been in Istanbul for a week now, Eligio Fiori said he will stay until he finds his son.
