Saturday 13 September 2008

It's not Denise! Non è Denise Pipitone!


The results of DNA tests show that the little girl, found on the Greek island of Kos, is not Denise Pipitone. In fact, they show that the Albanian woman she was with, who claimed to be her mother, actually is her mother. The child was reported to be speaking fluent Italian, but thanks to a poster on the 3 Arguidos site, we learn that an Italian lawyer in Palermo has said the child speaks only a few words of Italian, enough to sell her trinkets to the Italian tourists.

"A report is now set to be handed to a Greek prosecutor investigating the case who is expected to rule in favour of the Albanian mother, who had originally been arrested for kidnapping."

It's sad news all round, isn't it? Very sad for Piera, Denise's mother, but then she has apparently been through this many times since Denise disappeared on September 1st 2004 and wasn't getting her hopes up too much. It's also quite sad and worrying that the child's natural mother was arrested and charged with kidnapping, before DNA results were obtained.

It's sad too, that little Denise has been referred to as, "Italy's Madeleine McCann," and the McCann spokesperson has, of course, been asked to comment. He said that the McCanns were praying for Denise and her family and that this case proved that an abducted child could be found safe and well, years later. Well, there are too many differences between these cases for me to list them, but the most obvious is the circumstances under which the girls disappeared: Denise was playing outside her house; Madeleine was apparently asleep in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country, with no adult supervision. Denise is not, "Italy's Madeleine McCann." She is Denise Pipitone, but then, would we have heard of her at all from the British media without all the hoo haa about Madeleine? Probably not.

And speaking of the McCanns' spokesperson! No comment about little Rose, whose remains were found in a suitcase, which had been tossed into a river by the grandfather who murdered her. Well, Clarence, that case appears to be another example that bears out the sad statistics: most small children who disappear are actually harmed by a family member or someone close to the family. No comment?