Found Alive Burkina Faso (Africa) - Edith Blais, 34 & Luca Tacchetto, 30, Canada & Italy tourists, 15 Dec 2018

[ZaZara]

Burkina Faso, messaggio vocale di Luca Tacchetto: voleva vendere l’auto in Mali


Burkina Faso, voice message from Luca Tacchetto: he wanted to sell the car in Mali

The date of the audio sent to a group of friends is one week before the two disappeared

VENICE "Instead of going directly from Burkina to Togo, we're going to get a visa. We could go to Ivory Coast. Then we could go back to Burkina and go to Benin. It will be a long drive." Paduan architect Luca Tacchetto, who disappeared on December 15 last while travelling in Burkina Faso with his Canadian friend Edith Blais would have said this in a voice message sent to a group of friends.

The message - published in the newspaper Il Gazzettino - lasts 48 seconds, and in it Tacchetto also mentions the possibility of selling the car with which he was travelling, a Renault Scenic: "I can sell it between 1,500 and 2,000 (euros)" - he says, speaking in dialect - "in Mali maybe more. It would be a bargain, since in Italy I wouldn't even sell it for 500 euros." The date of the message is one week before the disappearance of the two. The last signal of the two is the video sent to the WhatsApp group of the family at 23.57 on December 15, while they were spending the evening in a restaurant.


BBM


Link to the report from Il Gazzettino with part of the voice message:

Spunta l'audio di Luca prima di sparire «Vendiamo l'auto in Mali»

The accent is markedly Venetian, the tone is bright, the voice is that of Luca Tacchetto. One month after the disappearance of the thirty-year-old Paduan architect - officially seen for the last time by a French friend on the morning of December 16 - an interesting audio message appears. It was sent to a group of friends a week before he was swallowed up by a mystery that is involving three continents. The son of the former mayor of Vigonza and the Canadian girl Edith Blais left Italy in a Renault Megane on November 20.

BBM



If there is more news about this voicemail, it remains well hidden behind a paywall.

 

[ellabella]

Little bit OT: The countries surrounding Burkina Faso are repeatedly mentioned as being dangerous. Mali, Niger, Togo .... but not the neighbouring Ghana. Why is that? I ask because a British friend of mine lives there with his wife and children.

Aside from property crime, and robbery(non-violent), for foreigners Ghana is extremely safe.There can sometimes be tribal issues, but they almost never affect foreigners, and Ghanaians are very quick to protect foreigners when issues arise.

In my experience(having lived there for 5 months) its a few things, but mostly that because they are an English speaking country(surrounded by french countries) as well as the first nation in Africa to gain independance(1957!) they are much much stronger developed as a nation, and so there is less poverty, less desperation, and much more access to education, and other services.

Ghana is often called the "gateway to Africa" and is considered a very friendly and safe country, mostly due to the fact that its been developing longer, and had much better resources(Sadly) than its neighbours.

My time there is easily the best memories of my life, and I would move back in a heartbeat if I could. I miss it every day.

 

[JerseyGirl]

"Instead of going directly from Burkina to Togo, we are going to get a visa. We could go to Ivory Coast. Then we could go back to Burkina and go to Benin. It will be long ". These are the first words of a voice message that lasts 48 seconds.

Spunta l'audio di Luca prima di sparire «Vendiamo l'auto in Mali»

Tacco also mentions the possibility of selling the car with which it was traveling, a Renault Scenic: "I can sell it between 1,500 and 2,000 (euro) - he says, speaking in dialect - in Mali maybe more. It would be a bargain, since I would not even sell them for 500 euros in Italy "

Burkina Faso, messaggio vocale di Luca Tacchetto: voleva vendere l’auto in Mali

 

[Elainera]

Aside from property crime, and robbery(non-violent), for foreigners Ghana is extremely safe.There can sometimes be tribal issues, but they almost never affect foreigners, and Ghanaians are very quick to protect foreigners when issues arise.

In my experience(having lived there for 5 months) its a few things, but mostly that because they are an English speaking country(surrounded by french countries) as well as the first nation in Africa to gain independance(1957!) they are much much stronger developed as a nation, and so there is less poverty, less desperation, and much more access to education, and other services.

Ghana is often called the "gateway to Africa" and is considered a very friendly and safe country, mostly due to the fact that its been developing longer, and had much better resources(Sadly) than its neighbours.

My time there is easily the best memories of my life, and I would move back in a heartbeat if I could. I miss it every day.

Thank you ellabella! I'm happy and relieved to hear that because sometimes I worry about my friend there.

 

[ellabella]

Thank you ellabella! I'm happy and relieved to hear that because sometimes I worry about my friend there.

I just wanted to add that while I was living there, I was in the area with the most poverty, and the only real area hit by tribal issues/violence(the north, near the border of burkina faso) and I still felt safer there every single day than I have ever felt in Canada oddly. It was an extremely wonderful country and I loved the people and my life there so much.

 

[GreyClay]

In possibly related news, a Canadian man was abducted on Tuesday in Burkina Faso:

A Canadian national was kidnapped in an area of Burkina Faso that the government has warned is under growing threat from jihadist attacks, Security Minister Clement Sawadogo said on Wednesday.

Sawadogo said the man was abducted around 1945 GMT on Tuesday by a dozen gunmen on a mining site owned by Vancouver-based Progress Minerals near northern Burkina Faso’s border with Niger.

In addition, a Canadian man and an Italian woman went missing earlier this month, Sawadogo said. “We have alerted our entire security presence to find these people,” he said.

Canadian kidnapped in northern Burkina Faso | Reuters

 

[cybervampira]

In possibly related news, a Canadian man was abducted on Tuesday in Burkina Faso:

A Canadian national was kidnapped in an area of Burkina Faso that the government has warned is under growing threat from jihadist attacks, Security Minister Clement Sawadogo said on Wednesday.

Sawadogo said the man was abducted around 1945 GMT on Tuesday by a dozen gunmen on a mining site owned by Vancouver-based Progress Minerals near northern Burkina Faso’s border with Niger.

In addition, a Canadian man and an Italian woman went missing earlier this month, Sawadogo said. “We have alerted our entire security presence to find these people,” he said.

Canadian kidnapped in northern Burkina Faso | Reuters

Geez.

I created a thread. His name is Kirk Woodman:

BURKINA FASO (Africa) - Kirk Woodman, Canadian mining employee, kidnapped, Mansila, 15 Jan 2019

 

[ZaZara]

Burkina Faso, messaggio vocale di Luca Tacchetto: voleva vendere l’auto in Mali


Burkina Faso, voice message from Luca Tacchetto: he wanted to sell the car in Mali

The date of the audio sent to a group of friends is one week before the two disappeared

VENICE "Instead of going directly from Burkina to Togo, we're going to get a visa. We could go to Ivory Coast. Then we could go back to Burkina and go to Benin. It will be a long drive." Paduan architect Luca Tacchetto, who disappeared on December 15 last while travelling in Burkina Faso with his Canadian friend Edith Blais would have said this in a voice message sent to a group of friends.

The message - published in the newspaper Il Gazzettino - lasts 48 seconds, and in it Tacchetto also mentions the possibility of selling the car with which he was travelling, a Renault Scenic: "I can sell it between 1,500 and 2,000 (euros)" - he says, speaking in dialect - "in Mali maybe more. It would be a bargain, since in Italy I wouldn't even sell it for 500 euros." The date of the message is one week before the disappearance of the two. The last signal of the two is the video sent to the WhatsApp group of the family at 23.57 on December 15, while they were spending the evening in a restaurant.


BBM


Link to the report from Il Gazzettino with part of the voice message:

Spunta l'audio di Luca prima di sparire «Vendiamo l'auto in Mali»

The accent is markedly Venetian, the tone is bright, the voice is that of Luca Tacchetto. One month after the disappearance of the thirty-year-old Paduan architect - officially seen for the last time by a French friend on the morning of December 16 - an interesting audio message appears. It was sent to a group of friends a week before he was swallowed up by a mystery that is involving three continents. The son of the former mayor of Vigonza and the Canadian girl Edith Blais left Italy in a Renault Megane on November 20.

BBM



If there is more news about this voicemail, it remains well hidden behind a paywall.

This voicemail might explain why Edith and Luca met Robert on the road (in Mali or Mauretania?) yet they did not travel together, but turned up at his home days later, after Robert had presumably already returned. I had been wondering if Robert was so quick and how he pulled that off, or if Edith and Luca were so slow. What would have taken them so long, this could have been their detour. and /or perhaps they needed to wait for various visa, and Robert did not.

December 13 they were in Bamako, Mali, waiting for their visa.
If they were on their way to Ivory Coast, then a stopover at Robert's house would make sense.
Also, if they travelled from Ivory Coast to Ouagadougou, Bobo Dioulasso would be on their way. They might even have been to Sindou before they went to see him.

Overall, their plans or ideas seem confusing. Why sell the car? Obviously Togo would be the place to sell it, if they wanted to, once they had reached their destination. But why sell it while you are still on the road?

Why skip Ghana and go to Burkina Faso twice? Instead of travelling from Ivory Coast to neighbouring Ghana and then to Togo? Very strange. Perhaps Luca wasn't clear about it either, and their plans took shape as they went along.

 

[ZaZara]

Burkina Faso, trovato il cadavere di un uomo bianco: potrebbe essere il copro di Luca Tacchetto


Burkina Faso, body of a white man found: possibly the body of Luca Tacchetto

The Farnesina Crisis Unit [ Italian Foreign Affairs Crisis Unit ] , according to Adnkronos, has been alerted to verify with local authorities the identity of the lifeless body of a "white man" found Wednesday night in Siega, in northern Burkina Faso.

In the African country, where armed gangs and Islamist militias are active, several foreign citizens have been kidnapped. Yesterday, the news of the kidnapping in Tiabangou, near the Niger border, of a Canadian citizen, Kirk Woodman, an employee of a mining company, was confirmed. Other Westerners have been targeted in recent times. Italian Luca Tacchetto has been missing since mid-December in the African country where he was travelling with his Canadian girlfriend, Edith Blais.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

The body is that of Kirk Woodman, who was abducted on Tuesday.


RIP

 

[ZaZara]

Freeland to meet with family of Edith Blais, who’s been missing in Burkina Faso since Dec. 15

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will meet Friday with the family of Edith Blais, who went missing in Burkina Faso and hasn’t been heard from since Dec. 15.

The 34-year-old Blais and her Italian friend Luca Tacchetto were travelling by car in southwestern Burkina Faso and were supposed to cross the border into Togo to do volunteer work with an aid group. A statement Wednesday by Burkina Faso Security Minister Clement Sawadogo referred to their disappearance as a kidnapping.

BBM

 

[ellabella]

*snipped*
Why skip Ghana and go to Burkina Faso twice? Instead of travelling from Ivory Coast to neighbouring Ghana and then to Togo? Very strange. Perhaps Luca wasn't clear about it either, and their plans took shape as they went along.

The only reason I can see or skipping Ghana is wondering how good their english is? It seems like they travelled to all French countries, so its the only thing i can see. Its weird because out of all the countries in the region, Ghana is by far and wide the safest of all of them.

 

[squid]

Padova-Hellas Verona: squadre in campo con una maglia per Luca e Edith | Padova Calcio

Sunday, on the occasion of the Veneto derby between Padova and Hellas Verona, the players of both teams will take to the field with a shirt dedicated to Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais, the two boys who had disappeared for about a month in Burkina Faso where they had gone for humanitarian. The initiative was launched by the club Aicb AVIS biancoscudata of Vigonza, the birthplace of Luca Tacchetto who is also a footballer of the Tombelle amateurs team.

 

[cybervampira]

Federal ministers seek to reassure family of Canadian woman missing in West Africa

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau met this morning with family members of a Quebec woman who has been missing in Burkina Faso for more than a month.

[...]

Visibly shaken, Bibeau said she had reassured the family that the Canadian government is working hard to find Blais. She described the meeting as a conversation between mothers.

A statement Wednesday by Burkina Faso Security Minister Clement Sawadogo referred to the disappearance of Blais and Tacchetto as a kidnapping. The Canadian government has not confirmed the information.

The meeting came the day after news broke that another Canadian, Kirk Woodman, had been found dead in Burkina Faso after being kidnapped this week. Woodman, originally from Halifax, worked for a Vancouver-based mining company.

[...]

 

[squid]

«On croit qu’elle est en vie», dit Justin Trudeau

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government believes that Edith Blais, who is missing in Burkina Faso, is alive at a press briefing on Friday.

"To the best of my knowledge, she is alive," said Justin Trudeau. I have not been told anything else that we believe she is alive. "

Justin Trudeau said the government takes the safety of Canadians, wherever they are in the world, very seriously.

 

[ZaZara]

Luca Tacchetto e Edith Blais, scomparsi in Burkina Faso: le ultime notizie

Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais, missing in Burkina Faso: the latest news

"Edith and Luca have been kidnapped." Canada confirms: "She's still alive."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at a press conference. To reinforce the hypothesis of the kidnapping the father of the young Italian said too: "Probably he was kidnapped". The Farnesina [FO] follows the case, while in Burkina Faso there is chaos in the government.

"Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais, who disappeared into thin air in Burkina Faso on December 15th, would have been kidnapped. The news was corroborated by Canadian sources, with President Justin Trudeau confirming that Ottawa has every reason to believe that the 34-year-old is still alive: "All I know so far is that we believe she is alive," he said after members of his government met with the girl's family in Sherbrooke. No mention of the young man from Vigonza, in the province of Padua, with his father who recently confirmed the thesis of the kidnapping: "The most likely thing is that he was kidnapped for political or economic purposes, not by jihadists."

Meanwhile, the resignation of the Prime Minister of the African country, Paul Kaba Thieba, and his government has been announced. Thieba himself announced this on his Twitter account, adding that President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré accepted the resignation. No details were given on the reasons, but according to the local media, the move was made by the presidency to give new life to the leadership of the West African country that is fighting a growing wave of jihadist attacks and hostage taking.

However, concerns about the fate of the couple continue to be high, particularly after the discovery in northern Burkina Faso on the border with Niger, of the body of the Canadian Kirk Woodman, a geologist who worked for the mining company of Vancouver Progress Mineral Mining Company. The Farnesina crisis unit is following with the utmost attention the case of Luca Tacchetto, who disappeared in Burkina Faso on 15 December, keeping in touch with his compatriot's family. Sources of the Farnesina point out that the maximum secrecy is necessary in the case.

"Since 15 December, there has been no news of Luca Tacchetto, 30 years old from Vigonza, son of the former mayor of Padua, Nunzio, who disappeared into thin air during a trip to Burkina Faso. The latest news was that he was travelling with his girlfriend Edith Blais, a 34-year-old Canadian, to the capital Ougadougou, in a car with an Italian number plate. It seems that the two were expected to have dinner with a couple who live in the capital and with whom they had an appointment.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Luca Tacchetto ed Edith Blais, è un sequestro: «Primi contatti con la banda di rapitori»

Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais: a kidnapping. "First contacts with the abductors"


The couple vanished in Burkina Faso. Luca's father: "The investigators are seriously busy and we are confident. I am thinking of kidnapping for political or economic reasons."

Luca Tacchetto and Edith Blais have been kidnapped. The news spread in Canada and confirmed by the visit of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the woman's relatives, is confirmed in Italy. But at the moment no detail can be added precisely because any interference could endanger the lives of the two hostages. The couple would have been captured while they were traveling in Burkina Faso and requests for their release would already have arrived. During these hours these requests are being analyzed to verify the reliability of those who contacted the Italian and Canadian authorities. The authorities are trying to ascertain whether the details provided as proof of them being alive - as always happens in the case of kidnapping - are true.

Luca's own father, Nunzio Tacchetto, said a few hours ago: "The most probable hypothesis is that it is a kidnapping. The investigators are seriously busy and we are confident. I'm thinking of kidnapping for political or economic purposes. Since the beginning of the disappearance, the Farnesina [ FO ] has asked for the utmost reserve, specifying, however, that it had activated every useful channel since 25 December last, when the family members had filed a formal report of disappearance. The danger is that the two young people could be in the hands of a terrorist group and this would make the negotiations for their release more complicated.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Scomparso in Burkina Faso, il padre di Luca Tacchetto: "Mio figlio probabilmente è stato rapito" - Tgcom24

"Either kidnapped or swallowed by a maelstrom where nothing will be found." Nunzio Tacchetto, father of Luca, the architect from Vigonza (Padua), tells the daily newspaper "Mattino di Padova" about his son of whom there is no news following a trip to Burkina Faso with his Canadian friend Edith Blais. "The most likely thing is that he was kidnapped for political or economic ends, not by jihadists," he adds. The Farnesina follows the case: "It is necessary to keep the utmost secrecy."

"In these cases sooner or later - said Nunzio Tacchetto - if we let those who do this job and do it well investigate, we will find the solution."

Luca's father confirmed once again that the last contact with his son was "at 23:57 on 15 December, when he sent the last message. Then both phones were switched off, both my son's and Edith's. Luca's phone broke in Mali and there he bought a new one, it worked well because he put his card in it." Edith, on the other hand, "never had a mobile phone, but when they left, Luca gave her one as a present. But from Africa they only connect with wifi."

The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office investigates this as a kidnapping - We proceed with the crime of kidnapping for terrorist purposes in the file initiated by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office in relation to the disappearance of Luca Tacchetto. The proceedings were initially opened as model 45, i.e. without suspects or hypotheses of crime. Prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco, head of the investigation, has now registered the file with the provisions of Article 289 bis of the Criminal Code. The investigators of Piazzale Clodio are currently maintaining the strictest confidentiality with regard to the development of the investigation.


BBM

 

[dotr]

Entire Burkina Faso government resigns
"The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Paul Kaba Thieba, has resigned from office along with his entire cabinet.
His government has faced growing pressure over a rise in the number of kidnappings and jihadist attacks.

Recent high-profile disappearances of foreign nationals have led to direct calls for Mr Thieba's resignation, as well as that of his defence and security ministers."

 

[ZaZara]

Il sequestro di Luca Tacchetto in Burkina Faso, si indaga per terrorismo


Kidnapping in connection with terrorism: this is the hypothesis of crime formulated by the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office in relation to the disappearance in Burkina Faso of architect Luca Tacchetto from Padua. The file, transmitted from Padua to the Roman prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco, was initially listed as model 45, i.e. without suspects or hypothesis of crime. Now the prosecutor Colaiocco has registered him according to Article 289 bis of the Criminal Code.


BBM