Mauro De Mauro was 49 years old when he disappeared from Palermo on 16 September 1970. He was an investigative journalist working for Palermo newspaper “L’Ora.” Amongst his many investigative pieces he also wrote several articles about Cosa Nostra.
De Mauro had been doing research for award-winning director Francesco Rosi’s film about the death of Mattei, who founded the ENI oil company, and who died in a 1962 plane crash likely caused by a bomb.
Mafia boss Salvatore “Toto” Riina was tried over De Mauro’s murder, but found not guilty for lack of evidence.
The journalist was kidnapped a few days before his daughter Franca’s wedding. After having returned home together, Franca went inside while her father parked the car. She turned to see two or three men appear, and get into the car. De Mauro then drove off quickly, never to return.
There is now hope that his disappearance can be explained, finally giving his family closure after over fifty years. In September 2021 a sniffer dog found a body in a cave on the slopes of Mount Etna during a mountain rescue exercise. The dog had been supposed to be sniffing out a fictitious missing person for training purposes — but found real remains instead.
Franca, one of the last people to see De Mauro alive, called a police hot-line after reading about the body, which dates to the 1970s and has a distinctive nose — just like her father. The De Mauro family is now awaiting the results of a DNA test, in the hopes that they will finally be able to lay their beloved family member to rest.
The Battle for Sicily’s Soul – Order from your Favourite Retailer Below
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links. When you use one of these affiliate links, the company compensates us. At no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission, which helps us run this blog and keep our in-depth content free of charge for all our readers.
