Little Kata's disappearance: 4 arrests in Florence, including her uncle

There is a possible turning point in the case of the little girl Kata, disappeared in Florence now several months ago and of which there is no news despite the campaigns and appeals.

The uncle was arrested this morning, along with three other people, on charges of involvement in the rental racket. Specifically, the man was allegedly responsible for a punitive raid against two people who refused to pay the rent. Along with the other three, he is accused of attempted murder, assault and extortion. Kata's parents were searched, but are not under investigation.

The Florence DDA has in fact executed this morning four precautionary custody measures, signed by the investigating judge of the Florence court, against Peruvians involved in the so-called "room racket" inside the Astor hotel, the occupied building where little Kata disappeared last June 10.

Among the recipients of the measures ordered by the investigating judge, there is also the child's maternal uncle. The crimes contested are extortion, attempted extortion and robbery, committed between November 2022 and last May, as well as attempted murder and serious injuries committed on May 28, when according to what was reconstructed at the Astor there was a punitive raid against some occupants.

Specifically, the four suspects allegedly carried out an initial beating with a baseball bat, threatening to kill a couple of compatriots if they did not leave the room.

After walking away for a few moments, the attackers continued their violence against other occupants of a nearby room and then returned to the couple's room, hooded, threateningly approaching the intended victim, who, fearing being killed, hung with her hands from the windowsill and let herself fall to the floor.

The crimes in question were found to have been committed in the context of an illegitimate activity of buying and selling the right to occupy rooms within the hotel structure occupied since September 2022 by Peruvians and Romanians, with the collection of sums of between 600 and 700 euros from people who wanted to enter.

The crimes of extortion and robbery are, according to investigators, committed with the use of threats and aimed at the delivery of sums of money. Last June 17, a week after the disappearance of the child, the Astor hotel was evacuated. Today's judicial initiatives are part of the ongoing investigative path aimed at identifying the authors of the alleged kidnapping of Mia Kataleya Chicclo Alvarez.

Kata's parents were searched, but are not under investigation.

Kata family members were also searched. By delegation of the DDA: the execution of the precautionary measures was handled by about fifty members of the mobile squad of the Florence police headquarters.

Ten search warrants were also executed in correlation by members of the investigative unit of the police of the provincial command of Florence, against several relatives of the kidnapped child and other persons, in their capacity as third parties not under investigation, of interest for the ongoing investigations into kidnapping for the purpose of extortion.

This last fact has seen the continuous investigative commitment since June 10 of several public prosecutors of the DDA and over 50 soldiers of the Carabinieri, the Investigative Unit of Florence, the ROS of Rome and the anti-crime section of Florence.