Crusading hitchhiker’s body is found in Turkey

TURKISH investigators found the body of an Italian artist, last seen in March hitchhiking in a wedding gown, and detained a man suspected of murdering her, officials said on Saturday.

Police found the nude body of 33-year-old Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo in bushes in a forested area near the mostly industrial town of Gebze, northern Turkey, the governor’s office for the city said.

Private news agency Dogan, quoting morgue officials, reported that di Marineo had been strangled with a rope.

Police tracked down the suspect when he switched on di Marineo’s mobile phone some time after her March 31 disappearance, an Italian Embassy official said. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorised to give information on the police investigation.

Authorities said the suspect, identified only by his initials MK, has not been charged and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. The suspect has a prior theft conviction, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The artist, also known as Pippa Bacca, began hitchhiking on March 8 with a friend from her hometown of Milan to the Palestinian territories as part of her “Brides on Tour” project calling for peace in conflict areas.

The two separated near Istanbul, with the aim of reuniting in Beirut, Lebanon.