Overview

• The boy was seized around 9:30 p.m. Thursday from a piazzetta in Vittoria by masked men who called him by name, forced him into a black Fiat Panda and left with a white Panda escort after tossing his phone to the ground.
• Police say two armed abductors carried out the grab in seconds in front of friends, part of a four-man commando operating in two cars, and the teen has not been found.
• Searches now involve helicopters and ground units across the Ragusa area, with the cars last seen heading toward the former SS115 route toward Gela, Comiso and Catania.
• Prosecutors in Ragusa are coordinating the probe as officers question friends and parents, review extensive camera footage and apply standard kidnapping safeguards that include a precautionary asset freeze.
• Vittoria’s mayor convened an emergency session to seek more police resources, and the bishop of Ragusa issued a public appeal for the youth’s release.