Desperate search for twin six-year-old girls launched across Europe after 'kidnapper father committed suicide'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:27 AM on 6th February 2011

• 
  

A desperate search for twin six-year-old girls is underway across Switzerland, France and Italy after their father committed suicide.

The body of Matthias Schepp, who was born in Canada, was found near a train station in Cerignola, Italy.

He allegedly abducted his two daughters, Alessia and Livia, from their mother's home in Switzerland on January 30.

Missing: A massive search for twin sisters Livia (left) and Alessia Schepp, six, has been launched across France, Switzerland and Italy

Search: Italian Alps Rescue volunteers check a water tank near Cerignola station in Italy for the two missing girls

Desperate: Mr Schepp made several cash withdrawals in Marseille France, but it is not known if he took the two girls to Italy, where he was found dead

Abducted: Matthias Schepp is believed to have taken his daughters from their mother's home in Switzerland on January 30. His body was found near a train station in Cerignola, Italy

Police officers on horseback, sniffer dogs and even helicopters have been carrying out searches around the train station.

Mr Schepp, in his 40s, was believed to have split from the girls' mother Irina Lucidi Schepp in August and the couple were going through a divorce.

He had sent his estranged wife a postcard from Marseille, France, saying he was desperate and could not live without her, according to Italian news agency Ansa.

It added he had withdrawn large amounts of money from cashpoints in the city.

Jean-Christophe Sauterel, a spokesman for Swiss police in Vaud, told the Toronto Star: 'We're still tying to find (the girls). We have no information on where they might be.'

Mr Schepp is then believed to have travelled to Italy, but it is unclear if he took the two girls with him.

Rescue workers are also searching wells and water tanks in the Puglia region.

The girls' maternal grandmother told the Toronto Star: 'You understand, we are in great pain. We don't know where they are.'

Postcard: Mr Schepp wrote to his estranged wife while in Marseille, saying he could not bear to be without her

International: Sniffer dogs, horseback police officers and helicopters have been employed during the search

Sphere: Related Content