Search ends: Body of 22‑year-old found in Italy

The search for a missing 22-year-old female student has tragically ended nearly after a week when her body was discovered in the Venice area of Italy. She had disappeared after a heated argument with her ex-boyfriend, who is currently sought after by the police. The incident has gripped the Italian public.

Giulia and Filippo, both 22-year-olds, were engineering students at a university in Padua. Their romantic relationship was short-lived, lasting just for a few months before they decided to part ways.

The female student vanished on November 11, coincidentally on the day she was supposed to receive her diploma, after a meeting with her ex-partner.

Investigators traced back a violent altercation between the ex-couple in a parking lot in Vigonovo, in the Venetian Euganea area. The following day of the investigation, evidence of bloodstains on the asphalt and tattered pieces of the missing student's attire were found at the scene of the dispute.

The search operation extended across northern Italy for the couple. On Saturday, the Carabinieri found the girl's remains near a lake in the town of Barcis, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

The search operation for the ex-boyfriend is still ongoing. The Carabinieri are considering the possibility that he may have taken refuge in Austria.

The public prosecutor in Venice made an appeal to the man via RAI television, urging him to turn himself over to the authorities freely.