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| Italian police find German couple | Italian police find German couple |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Italian police say they have found a German couple who vanished from a pizzeria in northern Italy on Sunday, leaving three young children behind. | Italian police say they have found a German couple who vanished from a pizzeria in northern Italy on Sunday, leaving three young children behind. |
| Ina Caterina Remhof, the 26-year-old mother, and her boyfriend Sascha Schmidt, 24, were found in a wood on the outskirts of the town of Aosta. | Ina Caterina Remhof, the 26-year-old mother, and her boyfriend Sascha Schmidt, 24, were found in a wood on the outskirts of the town of Aosta. |
| They are said to be in good health and are being questioned by police. | They are said to be in good health and are being questioned by police. |
| The two left the restaurant in Aosta, supposedly for a cigarette, but never returned. The children are now in care. | The two left the restaurant in Aosta, supposedly for a cigarette, but never returned. The children are now in care. |
| Arrangements are being made to take the children - believed to be aged four, two and eight months - back home to western Germany, where they may be placed in their grandmother's care. | |
| Italian prosecutors have said Ms Remhof is likely to be charged with the offence under Italian law of abandoning a vulnerable person. German officials have said her parental rights may be withdrawn. | |
| German police said Mr Schmidt was on the run after not returning to prison while on parole. They said he had been convicted of blackmail. | |
| Witness sighting | |
| After four days of checking borders, stations and rivers for the German couple, Italian police said on Thursday afternoon that Ms Remhof and Ms Schmidt had been found by a patrol walking along a path in a wood about 10km (6 miles) from Aosta. | |
| Staff at the Aosta pizzeria only realised they had vanished after 10 minutes | |
| A spokesman said that the couple were in good condition and had been brought to police headquarters for questioning. | |
| Investigators had feared the couple would not be found alive, as their car was also abandoned, along with a diary detailing financial problems. | |
| However, they were encouraged by a reported sighting on Wednesday evening near the village of Saint-Christophe, east of Aosta, and possible evidence that they had spent the night in an uninhabited hut, Italian media reported. | |
| The search was focused on the surrounding valley on Thursday and the couple were reportedly found at about 1530 (1330 GMT). | |
| Officials plan to give further details about the incident at a news conference in Aosta later on Thursday. | Officials plan to give further details about the incident at a news conference in Aosta later on Thursday. |
| The couple had entered Italy from Switzerland on 14 April. | |
| An Aosta hotel owner, Ezio Gevroz, said they had checked into his hotel on Saturday. The children were lightly dressed and cold, and the woman seemed very panicky, almost terrified, he said. | |
| On Sunday evening, they went to a local pizzeria. The owner said Ms Remhof was first to go outside, supposedly for a cigarette, followed by Mr Schmidt. After 10 minutes, staff realised they had vanished. |