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| Still no clue about Italian trekker’s whereabouts |
| 2-Nov-2003 |
KATHMANDU, Oct 31 - Trekking and mountaineering enthusiast Tiziana Pellegatta, an Italian citizen, is missing in Nepal since April 2003. Her parents are arriving in Nepal next month to look for her.
Pellegatta was attracted to Nepal due to its landscapes and mountains. She saw here an opportunity to pursue her hobby to the fullest and came here as a volunteer for an NGO ‘Hands for Help, Nepal’. Through the organisation, she worked as an English teacher at Malpur Lower Secondary School in Sauraha, Chitwan.
"After suffering from low blood pressure owing to the heat in Chitwan, she was transferred to another school near Pokhara," Anil Bhushal, director of the organisation said. "She then left for trekking, and has not returned."
Pellegatta had been invited to Ireland by her Irish boyfriend Allen Geddis, who had found a job for her there. Pellegatta abruptly informed Geddis that she no longer loved him. Then, she went out of contact for quite some time.
On April 28, 2003, the day Pellegatta was to return to Italy, she mailed Geddis informing him that she had fallen in love with a certain individual named John and therefore could not come to Ireland. She also informed him that she would stay in Kathmandu till May 10.
That was the last Geddis heard of her. Her family members in Italy had thus far believed that she was working in Ireland. Soon, her family members and Geddis came to know that her colleagues at the NGO she was working for were worried about her.
Pellegatta had arrived in Nepal on January 14, 2002, according to her sister Laura. She was to return home on May 10, 2003. However, she did not use the Biman Bangladesh air ticket for Kathmandu to Dhaka booked for May 10, 2003.
On April 28, 2003, she left her luggage at the Earth House Hotel in Thamel and left for a trek. She never came back.
Pellagetta’s family members contacted the police, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and people at the NGO she was working for. There has been absolutely no progress. An acquaintance said that she was spotted on May 22, 2003 in Pangboche region with her boyfriend John.
"This is the last clue we could gather," Geddis wrote in e-mail.
Through the Italian Embassy, her family got hold of her belongings at the Earth House Hotel. It is known that Pellegatta wrote her last e-mail to Geddis from the hotel.
A profound lover of nature, Pellegatta was fondly addressed as Maya at the schools she worked in. While back in Italy, she used to go alone for trekking every weekend. She also went on various lone treks in Europe and South America. She had met Geddis while trekking in the Khumbu region.
According to Geddis, Pellegatta can communicate in Nepali. "She was a strange person. She used to be sad often," he said…….NepalNews |
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