DESPERATELY SEEKING MIKE

Image: Wikipedia Italia

Daniela Zuccoli, the widow of Italian TV presenter Mike Bongiorno [26.5.1924 - 8.9.2009], is to appear on the television programme Chi l'ha visto?  ["Who Has Seen Him / Her?"] this evening in an attempt to find her husband's body, which was stolen from the Dagnente Cemetery in Arona [Piedmont] on 25th January this year.

Signora Zuccoli will be appearing on the programme on the advice of the police in the hope that someone, somewhere, will give the programme's presenters information which they do not feel able to communicate to the police.  Since Mike Bongiorno's coffin and body disappeared his family have received ransom demands and there have been some arrests but that vital clue that might lead the police to find the body has not been forthcoming.

Mike Bongiorno was born to Italian-American parents in New York City but emigrated to Italy as a young man.  He fought with the Italian partisans during World War 11 and later became Italy's most popular TV presenter ever.  His ancestors were Sicilian and the smalls towns of Campofelice di Fitalia and Mezzojuso in Palermo Province both claimed to be their birthplace.  In 2007, when Bongiorno stated on TV that his ancestors were definitely from Mezzojuso, the inhabitants of Campofelice di Fitalia took offence and declared him persona non grata. [However, it turns out that both towns have a legitimate claim as Campofelice di Fitalia was, when Bongiorno's paternal grandfather emigrated to the USA, a district of Mezzojuso.]

Federica Sciarelli, the presenter of Chi l'ha visto? has not always behaved impeccably but I hope that the programme can help signora Zuccoli to locate her husband's body and obtain closure.