The 45-year-old was abducted in Florence before dying near an A1 viaduct; investigators are reviewing physical evidence and a recorded emergency call.
FLORENCE, Italy — Prosecutors are examining whether the Sept. 3 killing of Lorena Isceri, 45, was planned in advance after investigators say her former partner, Federico Vella, abducted her in Florence and took her to an A1 motorway viaduct. Vella later died by suicide at the same site.
The case has drawn close scrutiny because Isceri managed to contact Italy’s 112 emergency service while she was being taken away, according to Italian news reports. Investigators are reviewing that recorded call along with evidence recovered from the vehicle and the garage where the abduction allegedly began. An autopsy is expected to help determine Isceri’s precise cause and time of death, including whether she died before or as a result of the fall from the viaduct.
Investigators believe Vella waited for Isceri in a garage on Via Panciatichi in Florence’s Rifredi neighborhood as she returned home on Thursday afternoon. According to ANSA, Rai News and other Italian outlets, he allegedly attacked and restrained her before putting her in the trunk of a vehicle and driving toward the A1 motorway. Those Italian reports identify Vella as 36. A People report published Sunday listed him as 38, but the age of 36 is used here because it is consistently reported by several Italian news organizations covering the local investigation.
While confined in the vehicle, Isceri was able to reach a cellphone and call 112, reports said. Italian accounts citing the recording said she told emergency operators that she had been attacked and abducted and identified the man she said was responsible. The call lasted about 20 minutes as police worked to locate the moving vehicle. Investigators are treating the recording as an important piece of evidence in reconstructing the sequence of events before the deaths.
The vehicle eventually stopped near the Lora viaduct on the A1 Panoramica in the Barberino di Mugello area north of Florence. Police responding to Isceri’s emergency call reached the location, but she had already gone over the viaduct, according to the reports. Authorities say Vella remained at the scene before later dying by suicide. Investigators have not yet publicly established through the planned forensic examinations whether Isceri was alive when she went over the viaduct, making the medical findings a key unresolved part of the case.
The Florence prosecutor’s office is also examining whether the attack was premeditated. Rai News reported Sunday that investigators found items including zip ties, adhesive tape, scissors and a sheet in the vehicle. The outlet also reported that investigators believe photoelectric sensors in the garage may have been covered before Isceri arrived. Authorities are assessing whether those findings show preparations made before the alleged abduction. Premeditation remains an investigative theory as the evidence is reviewed.
Isceri was originally from Squinzano in the southern region of Puglia and lived in Florence. Italian reports described her as working in the veterinary pharmaceutical or animal-health sector. Her family said she had become fearful of Vella as their relationship deteriorated. Her mother told reporters that Isceri had spent time with relatives in Puglia during the summer partly because of that fear. Friends and relatives also said they had encouraged her to report the situation to authorities, but she had not done so before her death.
Her killing comes amid renewed public concern in Italy over violence against women. The Guardian reported that Isceri was the seventh woman allegedly killed by a current or former partner in Italy since the Ferragosto holiday period began in mid-August. The country introduced a specific legal definition of femicide in its criminal law in 2025 following years of public pressure over killings of women by partners or former partners. Isceri’s death has again prompted public discussion in Florence about how authorities and communities respond to escalating violence within relationships.
Florence Mayor Sara Funaro announced a public gathering in Isceri’s memory for 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6, on Via Panciatichi, near where Isceri lived. The event was organized as a community remembrance and demonstration against violence toward women. Funaro said representatives of institutions, associations and the public were expected to attend, along with the mayors of Bergamo and Perugia.
The next major step in the investigation is expected Monday, Sept. 7, when the Florence prosecutor’s office is scheduled to formally assign forensic experts to examine the bodies of Isceri and Vella. The examinations are intended to clarify the causes and timing of the deaths and provide investigators with additional evidence about what happened on Sept. 3. Until those findings are completed, several details of Isceri’s final hours remain under investigation.