Friday, February 11, 2011

Swiss Twins: Dad's Online Search For Poison - Sky News

3:44am UK, Friday February 11, 2011

Pete Norman, Sky News Online

pictures of six-year-old twin girls, Alessia and Livia Schepp, outside the Cerignola Station in southern Italy Twins Alessia and Livia Schepp were taken by their father last month

An international search for the blonde 6-year-olds, Alessia and Livia, has been under way since last month when their Swiss mother reported them missing.

And in an ominous sign, Italian authorities now say the father, Matthias Kaspar Schepp, took his daughters to Corsica - but left the French island alone.

Police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel revealed that analysis of the father's work computer had turned up the new leads and the investigation is also now focusing on his behaviour before he disappeared.

"Before leaving Switzerland he researched websites for information on firearms and various methods of suicide, different poisoning techniques and ferry timetables," Mr Sauterel said.

Italian Alps Rescue vuolunteers and fire fighters check a water tank in search of twin six-year-old girls, Alessia and Livia Schepp, outside Cerignola Station, southern Italy on Febraury 5, 2011. Police in three countries were hunting for six-year-old twin girls Saturday after their father who had snatched them from their home in Switzerland threw himself under an Italian train, reports said. Separated from his wife Irina, 44, he had snatched the twins from their home in western Switzerland on Sunday and driven them away in her stolen car The search for the missing girls continues

"Investigations continue in Switzerland and in Italy, but are now revolving around Corsica."

Schepp, 43, was found dead on February 3 in the Italian city of Cerignola after apparently throwing himself under a train.

His Audi A6 was found parked near the station, with no child car seats or children's clothing inside.

Schepp picked up his daughters on January 30, but did not return them to their mother, Irina Lucidi, that night, or to school the next morning, as planned.

She has since made an emotional appeal for information about her daughters.

The parents, who had separated, lived in St. Sulpice, an affluent lakefront community in Lausanne, and police tracked his movement from Lausanne to France using his mobile phone signal.

He left Lausanne with the girls in the afternoon and the next day withdrew 7,500 euros (£6,300) in cash in Marseille before buying three tickets for the French island of Corsica.

Several witnesses have come forward to say they saw the twins with their father on the boat, notably in the children's play area. One witness has formally recognized the father at the port in Propriano on the morning of February 1.

Before leaving Switzerland he researched websites for information on firearms and various methods of suicide, different poisoning techniques and ferry timetables

Police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel on the missing girls' father

Mr Sauterel said the father looked at sites about firearms on January 27 - the day he wrote a will police later found in his home and three days before he disappeared with the girls.

"Two days before he fled he looked up information about different poisoning techniques and timetables for ferries between Marseille and Corsica," Mr Sauterel said.

"The information shows that the father had planned the trip in detail."

Police are still investigating if Schepp's online research into poisons was self-directed, or aimed at his children.

:: Anyone with information on the twins has been asked to contact the investigating authorities on +41 21 644 82 31.


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