The tragedy that struck the Di Vita family from Pietracatella continues to occupy national news and raise disturbing questions. After the deaths of Antonella Di Ielsi, 50 years old, and her daughter Sara Di Vita, just 15 years old, which occurred over the weekend at the Cardarelli hospital in Campobasso, the investigations are becoming increasingly complex and new investigative scenarios are opening up.
In fact, after the first hypotheses of possible food poisoning from fish or mushrooms, investigators are also evaluating the possibility of accidental contamination with substances used for rodent control. Meanwhile, five doctors have ended up under investigation.
From the contaminated fish or mushrooms hypothesis to that of rat poison
Initially it was thought of intoxication caused by seafood and fish (or mushrooms) consumed during the Christmas Eve dinner. The family had eaten mussels, clams, cuttlefish and cod, as well as other typical holiday foods. However, in the last few hours a completely different hypothesis has emerged which is attracting the attention of investigators.
From the investigations conducted by the Flying Squad, a potentially relevant detail emerged: a few months ago a rodent control would have been carried out in a mill that produces flour, owned by some relatives of Giovanni Di Vita, husband and father of the two deceased women. The investigators are therefore checking whether there may have been accidental contamination of the flour with the products used to eliminate mice, substances known to be toxic to the human body.
Giovanni Di Santo, general director of the Molise Health Authority, declared:
The causes that led to the deaths are not yet known, but there is a first certainty and it can be traced back to a poisoning whose nature is still unknown; it is not excluded that it could be food or chemical poisoning.
In the meantime, all the food seized from the family’s home has been sent for laboratory analysis. These are shellfish, fish and mushrooms consumed during the Christmas holidays. These tests will also be fundamental to exclude or confirm the food origin of the infection.
One hope to shed light on the matter comes from Spallanzani in Rome, where Giovanni Di Vita, the only survivor among those who showed symptoms, is still hospitalized. The man, who had been mayor of Pietracatella and works as an accountant, is in stable condition and is receiving specialist treatment. The tests conducted on him could prove decisive in identifying the substance that caused the fulminant liver failure that killed his wife and daughter.
The couple’s eldest daughter, who fortunately did not attend that dinner, was also transferred to Rome as a precaution and remains under medical observation.
Five doctors in the register of suspects
In parallel with the investigation into the cause of the deaths, the Campobasso Prosecutor’s Office is meticulously reconstructing the entire chain of medical interventions that preceded the death of mother and daughter. An aspect that raised many doubts concerns the fact that both women went to the emergency room and to the doctor several times before their final hospitalization, but were sent home.
For this reason, five doctors ended up in the register of suspects: three from Cardarelli in Campobasso and two from the local medical guard. The prosecutor explained that, given the extreme complexity of the clinical picture, specific investigations were arranged to verify whether there had been negligence, underestimation of the symptoms or errors in the application of the diagnostic protocols.
The autopsy on the bodies of Antonella and Sara, scheduled for Wednesday, will be fundamental to establish with certainty what caused what doctors described as a “rarely rapid” clinical evolution, with liver failure followed by multiple organ failure.
The small town of Pietracatella remains in shock due to a tragedy that struck an esteemed and well-known family to the heart. The questions that citizens ask themselves are the same as those of the investigators: what caused such a violent and rapid reaction? Could anything more have been done to save those two lives?
