A British woman has flown to the island of Sardinia in hopes of finding her missing 25-year-old son who was working as a farm volunteer on the island.
Michael Frison from Somerset in England, has been missing since he took a walking break in the countryside near Lura on July 13. Originally from Bristol, Frison went to Sardinia to visit family while also volunteering on a local farm. Investigators called off the search for the missing man on July 26.
But his mother is not giving up. Cristina Pittalis has arrived in Sardinia, and says she found her son’s computer, his identification, and his phone at the house where he was staying. Expressing her fear and grief on social media, Pitallis has posted messages she hopes her son will see. His younger brother Emanuele and she have been “suffering from your absence,” she wrote.
Pitallis has kept hope alive. In a video post, she speaks directly to Michael, saying she knows that he is alive. “I feel in my heart you are alive,” she said, promising that she’s looking for him.
From what Pittalis has posted, it appears she may believe that her son Michael either does not want to be found, or may be afraid of being found. In her messages to her son, Pittalis advises him “you don’t need to be afraid to be found,” and tells him to expect the local Carabinieri (police) will be out searching. She also counsels him to ask people for food and water if he doesn’t have any.
Evie Baker is one of the people who has organized a fundraiser and a drive to get volunteers over to the island to help with the search. She said that on the day Michael went missing, he was about to start his farm work but “felt unwell” in the unusually hot climate. She wonders if he may have become dehydrated and passed out.
Michael Frison is just one of three people who have gone missing on the Italian island since July 13. Local media say one of the missing is an Italian tourist on holiday, and the other was Carla Visentin, whom her family reported as missing on that Sunday.