Police say ‘missing’ Italian arrived in Zambo but whereabouts now unknown

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines— Police here say the Italian reported missing in Sabah, Malaysia, on Oct. 14 had indeed arrived here but his whereabouts are now unknown.

Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, the city’s police director, told reporters here that William Bocchi, 49, arrived in Zamboanga on Oct. 16 aboard the MV Danica Joy 2, which plies the Zamboanga-Sandakan route.

Casimiro said Bocchi’s arrival was confirmed by the Bureau of Immigration.

“It was Joey Escobar from BID who stamped the passport of William Bocchi. He also asked William how many days was he going to stay in Zamboanga and he said just overnight,” Casimiro said.

Casimiro said a check with Cebu Pacific showed that Bocchi booked a two-way ticket for the Manila-Macau route in Manila in September but there was no record of him booking a flight out of this city this month.

He said Philippine Airlines, the other carrier servicing Zamboanga, has not given any information on the Italian yet.

Despite this, he said, the police were not looking for Bocchi as “we believe that he departed Zamboanga City on the 17th of October as revealed to immigration officer Joey Escobar.”

The Malaysian media reported that Bocchi arrived in Malaysia on Oct. 12 and flew to Kota Kinabalu and then to Lahad Datu.

It was Lahad Datu businessman Sia Yiik Huon who reported Bocchi’s disappearance after receiving an email from a friend, who said a colleague of Bocchi’s had claimed he should have returned home on Oct. 16.

Bocchi was described as a financial services adviser.

The Malaysian police said after visiting Lahad Datu, Bocchi took a bus to Sandakan and checked into a hotel.

The following day, he left the hotel, boarded a Philippine-bound ferry and nothing has been heard from him since.