An Italian woman who became one of the earliest public accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein vanished from New York for nearly a fortnight before being located alive by Italian law enforcement authorities this week.
Elisabetta Tai Ferretto, 50, had not been heard from since 22 April, after her daily calls with her family suddenly stopped, according to multiple Italian outlets including La Stampa, one of Italy's oldest and most prominent national newspapers. The disappearance triggered a formal cross-border investigation involving Italian prosecutors, the Carabinieri, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and American authorities, before concluding with the news that Ferretto had been found.
Ferretto is originally from Montagnana, in the province of Padova, and has lived in the United States since 2001, building a career in both fashion and, more recently, New York real estate. Her family in Veneto had maintained daily contact with her, particularly her mother, and there were no reported warning signs when she briefly returned home.
She had travelled to Italy's Veneto region in early April to visit family before returning to Manhattan. After her return, contact with relatives ceased entirely. Her family reported that she had not responded to calls and that her social media accounts appeared to have been deleted or deactivated. According to Italian reports, her phone may have been disconnected after she returned to the United States.
The case was reported to Italian authorities as a missing citizen abroad. However, the New York Police Department stated there were currently no formal complaint reports on file related to her disappearance. That disconnect between Italian and American official responses drew attention, particularly given the high-profile nature of her past accusations.
The family filed a missing persons report with the Procura di Rovigo, which opened a case file as the matter involved an Italian citizen abroad. The notification was subsequently forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The alarm that had gripped Ferretto's family and reverberated across Italian media resolved on 5 May 2026, when the Carabinieri confirmed she had been found.
The Carabinieri of the Compagnia di Esteconfirmed that Ferretto had been locatedin the United States and was in good health. The news was communicated to her family on the morning of Tuesday, 5 May. The searches, activated through diplomatic and international cooperation channels, concluded with the location of the woman in the United States.
The communication of her being found arrived from the Carabinieri of the Este Compagnia, in the lower Padovano, following searches activated through international cooperation channels. The notification had subsequently been transmitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
No explanation for her two-week silence has been provided publicly. The circumstances surrounding why she cut off contact, and why her social media accounts were deactivated, remain unaddressed by authorities or her representatives.
Source: International Business Times UK
