Italian father found with apparent memory loss in Edinburgh ‘may have been fleeing Chinese mobsters’ after ‘searching internet for how to disappear’
- Salvatore Mannino was discovered by police at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh
- The businessman had gone missing from Lajatico, near Pisa, Italy, the day before
- Italian media said investigators found searches on his laptop of how to disappear
- He’d allegedly tried to close down joint bank accounts belonging to him and wife
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Italian supermarket manager Salvatore Mannino, 52, was found at a cathedral in Edinburgh with no identifying documents
A mystery Italian supermarket manager discovered at an Edinburgh cathedral with apparently no clue who he was may have been on the run from the Chinese mafia, his family’s lawyer has said.
Salvatore Mannino, 52, was found with no identifying documents and is now back in his home country – but the case has only become more baffling.
Before setting off for Scotland he allegedly made internet searches for ‘how to disappear without a trace’, leaving his mobile phone behind with the recent call history deleted.
Mr Mannino is also said to have tried to close joint bank accounts belonging to his wife and and himself, moving the money to accounts under her name only.
Now it has emerged that he spent the six months before he vanished working at a supermarket in the Chinatown area of Prato, reported The Times.
The city in Tuscany, nearly 200 miles north of Rome, is home to 30,000 Chinese employees who work mainly in the textile industry.
Mr Mannino (pictured with wife Francesca) allegedly tried to close joint bank accounts belonging to him and his wife, moving the money to accounts under her name only
Family lawyer Ivo Gronchi told the newspaper: ‘He can’t give an explanation. He asks his wife if she can explain what happened.
‘This has all been a bolt from the blue for the family. If he was threatened by the Chinese mafia, he never mentioned it to them.’
He said Mr Mannino was invited out for meals by Chinese locals in Prato – and was once seen outside his house in the middle of the night talking to someone.
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Police Scotland said the bizarre saga in Edinburgh began when he was discovered in St Giles’ Cathedral last month and had no idea who he was.
Mr Mannino had gone missing from Lajatico, near Pisa, the previous day after taking his children to school.
Before leaving the family home, he left a briefcase with €10,500 (£9,350) and a sheet of paper with a numerical sequence, a code which was deciphered by his eldest son, 18.
Aerospace student Filippo told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera earlier this month: ‘It was a message Dad left me to decipher, I am sure of it, because he knew I am passionate about mathematical games.’
Mr Mannino is said to have checked the weather forecast for Edinburgh and Aberdeen before leaving Italy.
What is amnesia?
Amnesia is an umbrella term for when a person can no longer recall information stored as memory, or create new memories going forward.
In the majority of cases, it is caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma.
The phenomena is difficult to prove, as brain scans reveal no structural changes in many types of amnesia, such as transient global amnesia (TGA).
This type of amnesia involves the sudden, temporary loss of memory, alongside repeated questioning, with no neurological cause.
It most commonly occurs in middle-aged and elderly adults.
Although unclear, TGA is thought to be caused by blood flow obstruction in structures of the brain that are critical for memory, leading to a reduction in oxygen supply, and subsequent reduced activity, in those brain regions.
TGA more commonly occurs in people who suffer from migraines or epilepsy.
Known triggers of the condition include sex, stress, pain, and exposure to hot and cold temperatures.
In most cases, amnesia resolves itself without treatment.
He was described as ‘tranquil’ and ‘happy’ before going missing and left his mobile phone behind, with the recent call history deleted.
Mr Mannino, who claims to be unable to speak Italian, has been communicating in basic English since he was found in Scotland.
When police in Edinburgh were called to reports of a man taking unwell last month, he was not carrying any ID.
Two weeks later officers issued an appeal to help identify a ‘man with no memory’.
During the public appeal for information, they used the Italian’s tattoos to help identify him.
At the time, PC Lesley Jack said: ‘This is a very unusual inquiry, as we have a member of the public who has no idea about who he is, where he is from or who we can call on his behalf.
‘We hope that, by issuing this detailed description, someone will recognise this male and come forward to assist with our inquiries.’
After he was identified, Mr Mannino’s wife and eldest child later flew to Edinburgh, but he claimed not to know who they were.
‘His wife and oldest son were reunited with him for an hour at the hospital but he didn’t know them, it was like they were total strangers to him,’ Mr Gronchi said.
A long-term friend of Mr Mannino, Mr Gronchi said his disappearance had been ‘like lightning in a blue sky’.
Mr Mannino is being assessed at a psychiatric ward in Pisa, where doctors are yet to diagnose his condition.
According to Italian media he has now been charged with ‘violating his family assistance obligations’ as a result.
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