Disappeared into thin air at 19 in Furlo, the family: “Keep looking for Riccardo”

For 15 days there has been no trace of Riccardo Branchini from Acqualagna, in the province of Pesaro and Urbino. After the search was stopped, his parents asked to go ahead and 'empty' the dam

PESARO – He left behind only his car, a Y-boat, parked near the Furlo dam, in the province of Pesaro-Urbino, with his keys, dirty clothes, his cell phone, documents and a small sum of money inside. Then Riccardo Branchini, 19 years old from Acqualagna, has been missing for two weeks. After 10 days of desperate searches, with the use of divers and dog units of firefighters , Alpine Speleological Rescue teams and drones, everything stopped two days ago. And even the appeals on television programs – such as Chi l’ha visto and Pomeriggio 5 – have not brought the hoped-for results. Now the family is asking to resume the search, to focus on the dam, in the hope of ruling out an extreme gesture.

OVER 10 DAYS OF IMPRESSIVE SEARCH, THEN THE STOP

Since the day of the disappearance, the search has become increasingly intense, with twenty firefighters in the field, the use of river units and divers, dog units, speleological mountain rescue, drone operators, including night-time ones, and civil protection. The family, friends, the entire community of Acqualagna committed to looking for him in the woods, in the places dearest to him in the surrounding area. Then, after 13 days, the stop: the decision to suspend all attempts. But the parents do not give up and ask, through their lawyer, Elena Fabbri, that the Furlo dam be emptied so as not to remain in uncertainty. In the meantime, two new reports have arrived: a possible sighting in Fano, the other in Vibo Valencia, but there are no photos or significant confirmations.

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE DISAPPEARANCE

During the investigations, conducted by the carabinieri, some friends were also interviewed in an attempt to reconstruct the last hours in which there was news of the boy. In fact, among the hypotheses formulated,  the one of voluntary removal is not excluded. Riccardo is a boy with a  passion for travel, a model student at the technical institute of Urbino,  where he graduated last June.

The investigators are scanning the boy’s PC and online conversations, but the investigations are being kept strictly confidential. According to the reconstructions of his friends, Riccardo spent Saturday afternoon with them, had dinner in a restaurant in the center of nearby Urbino. Then he returned home, to Acqualagna, where he was seen returning to his grandmother. He spent some more time with the friends who had accompanied him. Finally, for reasons that are still unclear, he left the house and the inhabited area, heading towards Furlo.

“SI TORI A CERCARE RICCARDO ALLA DIGA”

Since then, Riccardo’s parents have been living a nightmare. His father, Tommaso Branchini, has been actively involved in the search, continually going to the boy’s favorite places, such as the Piobbico Castle, in the hope of running into him. His mother, Federica Pambianch, continues to launch appeals on social media and TV: “Riccardo must return home: one way or another. The search must resume”. And again: “We live with an endless anguish, which is wearing us down day after day…”. Precisely to still have some hope or end the uncertainty, she asks that the flow of water at the dam be stopped: “Only in this way would the depth decrease, allowing us to inspect even the deepest ravines, where there are several cavities. They told me that it can’t be done, but on the seabed it was not possible to complete the inspections, due to the very poor visibility. I’m sure that there must be a way to do it”.