Overview
- The bodies were identified as Najoua Minniti, 35, recovered off Torre dell’Orso after a diver’s alert, and her son Elia Perrone, 8, found later in their Calimera apartment.
- The father reported mother and child missing when he could not reach them, prompting searches that led the Carabinieri to enter the home and discover the boy.
- Initial forensic checks noted signs consistent with strangulation on the child, with definitive causes of death pending autopsy and toxicology.
- The Procura di Lecce, with prosecutor Erika Masetti, has tasked medico‑legal experts and continues scene work and interviews while treating a murder–suicide as the primary hypothesis.
- Reporting cites a history of separation, custody disputes, prior complaints, and the mother’s documented psychological fragility and contact with social and mental‑health services.