The remains of a kitesurfer who went missing two months ago off the coast of Italy has turned up 800km across the Mediterranean on a Libyan beach.
Thirty-nine-year-old Mimmo Piepoli vanished on May 1 while kitesurfing off Italy’s Porto Cesario. Eyewitnesses said he had returned to shore once to switch out a sail and was later was seen struggling in the surf and strong winds before disappearing. On July 4, a fisherman found the remains of a man in a wetsuit, still attached to his kiteboard, near shore in Daryana, Libya.
While authorities have not confirmed the identity of the body, pending DNA analysis, the wetsuit and the kiteboard match the description of Piepoli’s.
His disappearance prompted an extensive search by the Italian Coast Guard, which used a helicopter and divers to search a wide area. The search eventually expanded to include authorities in Greece and Albania.
Piepoli, an experienced kiteboarder from Erchie on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, leaves a wife and two children.
Mimmo Piepoli. Photos: Facebook
