Rescue teams using tracker dogs and drones are racing against time to scour a 400-hectare area of remote woodland in Sicily to find the young child named Gioele.
The body of the boy’s mother, Viviana Parisi, 43, who was a DJ born in Turin, was found about 500 metres from the place where she abandoned her car on August 3, in the Caronia woods on the northern coast of the island.
Parisi’s body was found under a tree and, according to reports, she was unrecognisable, although no further details were given.
Italian police said they were only able to identify her by the wedding ring on her hand.
An autopsy was expected to be carried out on Tuesday to determine the cause of her death.
Investigators have opened a probe into alleged murder and abduction.
There are no suspects so far.
According to Italian daily La Republicca, Parisi abandoned the car on the Messina-Palermo motorway, after she had a small accident, and allegedly ran away from the scene with her son Gioele.
Investigators on Tuesday appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
“Anyone who has seen anything useful to the investigation must talk,” prosecutor Angelo Cavallo said.
In particular, he appealed for two people who reportedly told locals that they had seen a woman and a child climb over a highway guardrail to come forward.
“They did a good thing in stopping to see if anyone needed help,” Cavallo said.
“They should now come forward because we don’t know who they are.
“It is strange that, despite all the media attention this case has attracted, they have not yet come forward or contacted us.
“Their testimony is important to clarify, once and for all, whether Gioele was with his mother or not.”
Among other witnesses, investigators are set to question the highway workers whose van crashed with Parisi’s Opel Corsa in a tunnel before the woman and her son went missing.
Parisi had moved to Messina in 2003 when she married another DJ, whose name is Daniele Mondello.
According to local reports, Parisi’s husband and family are devastated and determined to find out what happened to her and Gioele.
With ANSA
