The Death of Silvana Damato, the Mystery of the Missing Keys

The death of the sixty-nine-year-old, a retired tobacconist with a home in Bruzzano, once a commune and now a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Milan since the 1920s, has the makings of an Agatha Christie mystery. She was last seen Friday morning. Friends waited for her that afternoon for their usual game of burraco, but she never arrived and didn't answer their calls. So they raised the alarm. Firefighters entered the sixth-floor apartment by rappelling from the roof. They found her body in the bathtub filled with water, the faucet turned off. Silvana was lying on her back, partially out of the water, with her face swollen and signs of wounds on her neck. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Autopsy results are now awaited to determine if there was water in her lungs and to determine the exact cause of death, whether accidental or not. Meanwhile, prosecutor Valentina Mondovì has opened a homicide investigation. The apartment of Silvana Damato, retired after working at a tobacco shop in the Central Station, appeared tidy: every wall was covered with paintings and furnishings, as shown in the photos she posted on her Facebook profile. This is how the Carabinieri, who are investigating, found it. No signs of a struggle, no furniture out of place. Her purse and wallet were there, as was her cell phone. The only thing missing were the keys to the apartment, which was locked when emergency services arrived, with no signs of forced entry. Divorced, with an adult daughter and two adored grandchildren, Silvana lived in an eight-story apartment building. The Carabinieri are examining CCTV footage and cell towers in the area. And they are interviewing the neighbors of the eight-story building and his acquaintances to understand who he frequented, if there was anyone in particular and what his days were like and above all what happened on his last afternoon.