Search for missing Italian stepped up
Published on: Wednesday, October 22, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: The public is urged to report to the nearest police station if they know the whereabouts of Italian William Bocchi.Police will be expanding their effort to track the 52-year old businessman to cover Lahad Datu, Semporna, Sandakan and even the rural areas, including Kinabatangan."I have instructed all district police chiefs in Sabah's east coast to distribute photos of Bocchi in our attempt to locate him," said State Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman.
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"I request to the public especially, if you saw this man, please report it to the police," he told a press conference here, Tuesday.Bocchi was last spotted in a hotel in Sandakan on Oct 14 where he had stayed overnight after arriving from Lahad Datu. Recordings from CCTV showed that Bocchi travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu before he boarded a flight to Lahad Datu."He had stayed in a hotel in Lahad Datu and later took a bus to Sandakan. He checked in at 9.25pm on Oct 13 in a hotel in Sandakan and checked out the next day."That was the last time he was spotted. He did not leave any of his stuff nor was there any proof that he had used his credit card," said Jalaluddin, adding that Bocchi was not accompanied by anyone.
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The family, whose last contact with Bocchi was on Oct 11, had already made contacts with the Italian embassy and the embassy's defence attaché had already contacted Jalaluddin on Tuesday morning.Jalaluddin said that there is a possibility that the defence attaché will be travelling to Sabah to meet him and he had already briefed the attaché on the police efforts and actions. The police, he added, had ruled out foul play and it is possible that the man had friends in Sandakan to help him market his products.
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Jalaluddin said according to Immigration Department's report, the trip was Bocchi's first to Sabah.In LAHAD DATU, people have been advised to remain calm in the wake of the missing Italian.Lahad Datu Assemblyman Datuk Yusop Apdal urged the people in the district not to believe unverified information spread via social media by irresponsible people.Yusof said the public should get accurate information from the security forces or relevant government authority."The police had classified this incident as missing person and efforts to track him are underway. Put your trust in our security forces and do not speculate about the incident as it might undermine the efforts to find this man," he said.Yusop also advised the public to cooperate with the police and provide any information in relation to the incident to the police as it could assist to locate the missing man.On Sunday, Italian William Bocchi was reported missing by Sia Yiik Huon, a manager at the MP Machinery at the Lahad Datu Police Department .Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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