Gabriella Querino’s body was recovered near Campalto three days after the crash that also killed her husband, Sean Michieli.
VENICE, Italy — The body of 26-year-old Gabriella Querino, a pregnant newlywed missing since a boat collision in the Venice lagoon, was recovered Tuesday near Campalto, three days after the crash that also led to the death of her 25-year-old husband, Sean Michieli.
Querino and Michieli were aboard a small fishing boat early Saturday, Sept. 12, when it collided with a water taxi in the Tessera Canal, a busy lagoon route near Venice Marco Polo Airport. Michieli was rescued with critical injuries and taken to Angelo Hospital in Mestre. His death was formally declared Sunday. Querino could not be found after the collision, beginning a large search involving firefighters, divers, aircraft and boats equipped with sonar.
A private citizen spotted a body in the water near the island of Campalto at about 9 a.m. Tuesday and alerted authorities. Firefighters recovered the body, which authorities identified as Querino. The discovery ended three days of searches across an area made difficult by murky water, varying depths and tidal currents. The body was found roughly two kilometers from the area where the boats collided.
Querino, who was from Brazil, and Michieli had married in Venice about three months before the crash and were expecting their first child, according to Italian news reports. They lived on Burano, an island in the Venetian lagoon. Michieli came from a fishing family and worked in the local fishing trade. Reports said the couple left Burano early Saturday morning before the collision.
Investigators have not publicly determined what caused the crash. The Venice prosecutor’s office opened a nautical homicide investigation, and the 38-year-old driver of the water taxi is under investigation. An investigation under Italian law does not establish criminal responsibility, and no final finding has been announced about which vessel caused the collision or whether speed, visibility, lighting or navigation decisions contributed to it.
Authorities have seized the two vessels for technical examination. Investigators are expected to study the damage to the boats, their direction of travel and their possible speeds as they reconstruct the impact. The collision happened before sunrise in the Tessera Canal, where water taxis regularly travel between Venice and the airport. Investigators are also reviewing whether the vessels had the required navigation lights operating at the time.
The taxi driver has provided investigators with his account of the collision, but authorities have not confirmed his version of events. Investigators are also seeking two American tourists who were passengers aboard the water taxi when the crash occurred. The tourists continued toward the airport aboard another vessel after the collision and are considered potential witnesses to what happened in the moments before impact.
The search for Querino began soon after authorities determined that she was believed to have been aboard the couple’s boat. Her personal belongings and identification were recovered during the search, reinforcing investigators’ belief that she had been on the vessel when it sank. Firefighters used divers, watercraft, an aircraft, drones and sonar equipment while expanding the search beyond the immediate crash site.
Search crews faced difficult conditions in the lagoon. The water can be highly turbid, limiting visibility for divers, while changing tides and currents can move objects far from where they entered the water. Investigators believe those conditions could help explain why Querino was recovered well away from the Tessera Canal several days after the collision.
Michieli had been taken to the hospital after suffering severe injuries in the crash. Medical officials formally declared his death Sunday evening following the required medical assessment. Prosecutors later ordered examinations intended to help establish his cause of death and provide additional information about the collision.
Prosecutors have also ordered an autopsy on Querino as the investigation continues. A preliminary examination found injuries considered compatible with the boating accident, according to Italian reports, but authorities are relying on the autopsy and other forensic work to establish the cause of death. Investigators have not announced evidence establishing a different cause.
Querino’s relatives traveled from Brazil to Venice as the search continued and arrived after learning that her body had been found. Brazilian consular officials have also been following the case. Michieli’s family has asked that the investigation be allowed to proceed without premature or unverified accounts about what occurred before the crash.
The investigation remained active Wednesday as authorities prepared autopsies, examined the seized vessels and worked to locate witnesses. No final determination of responsibility for the collision had been announced, and prosecutors had not released a completed reconstruction of the crash.
Author note: Last updated September 16, 2026.