A girl who went missing in 2021 has been reunited with her dad after being found more than 600 miles away from home.
Noemi Zanella was found in Rzeszow, Poland, thanks to an anonymous tip.
She returned to her home in Cesena, Italy, on Wednesday (5 Jun) after almost three years without seeing her dad Filippo.
Noemi, nine, and her Polish mum had left for Poland by car in September 2021.
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The mum had later sent Filippo an email to tell him that she had taken Noemi, then seven, to spend time with her “dying” great-grandmother.
Noemi’s great-grandmother is still alive today, as reported on Need To Know.
Shortly after arriving in Poland, Noemi and her mum went off the radar.
Filippo, 47, and his family spent the following years desperately searching for his daughter.
They hired private detectives and went on the TV programme about missing persons ‘Chi l’ha visto?’, but to no avail.
Filippo even went to Poland himself in a desperate bid to track her down.
He said at the time: “Unfortunately, we don’t even know if she’s alive.
“She isn’t going to school, and we fear she doesn’t have a doctor or anyone to take care of her.
“I’m afraid her mother might have done something terrible.
“She had her friends in Italy.”
Noemi was found in an area of Poland near the borders with Ukraine and Belarus.
Filippo told local media: “A mysterious guardian angel sent me a priority mail letter with my daughter’s Location.
“I have no idea who it was, but they told me the exact city in Poland where Noemi was.”
During her time in Poland, Noemi didn’t go to school and lived far from her Polish extended family.
Her dad, who is a physiotherapist, says she was often left at home alone or with strangers.
She remembers little Italian.
Noemi’s mum was 25 when she was born in 2015.
After her parents separated, a judge ruled that she should spend Wednesdays, Thursdays, and every other weekend with her dad.
It was also ruled that she could only go abroad for three weeks a year and only during school holidays.
Filippo said: “Getting my daughter back was incredibly tough.
“She was with her mother for three years, and now I want to help her be around other children.”
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