Prosecutors identify woman, baby found dead in Rome

ROME — Italian prosecutors said Thursday they believed they had identified a woman and baby found dead in a park in Rome, after a US man was arrested suspected of killing the infant.

They said in a statement a passport used by the woman identified her as a 28-year-old born in Russia.

They said investigations revealed her baby was registered less than a year ago with the US embassy in Malta.

"Thanks to collaboration between the FBI and the Maltese authorities, the victims have probably been identified," the prosecutors in the Italian capital said in a statement.

The two were found dead in one of Rome's biggest parks, Villa Pamphili, on June 7.

Italian police said on June 15 that an American man was arrested on the Greek island of Skiathos accused of murdering the baby and hiding the woman's body.

Some Italian media published images of the woman's tattoos to help identify her.

The popular RAI television program "Chi l’ha visto?" ("Who has seen them?") reported on its website on Thursday that it had contacted a woman in Russia who claimed to have recognized her daughter's tattoos.

It cited the woman as saying her daughter had gone to Malta to study English, where she met the US suspect, and that her last contact with her daughter was an email dated June 2 in which the young woman mentioned problems with her partner.

"Comparison of the victims' fingerprints with those on their passports will provide definitive confirmation of their identities," the prosecutors said. — Agence France-Presse