Memory-loss patient found at cathedral believed to be Italian dad

The mystery man taken ill in an Edinburgh cathedral last month was an Italian man who had vanished from his home near Pisa, the Evening News understands.
Missing Italian Salvatore Mannino is believed to be the man found at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh last month.Missing Italian Salvatore Mannino is believed to be the man found at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh last month.
Missing Italian Salvatore Mannino is believed to be the man found at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh last month.

Police in Edinburgh have confirmed the identity of the man found in St Giles’ Cathedral on September 20 has now been established.

It is believed the man is 52-year-old Salvatore Mannino, who had not been seen since leaving his Pisa home on September 19.

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Italian police say that Salvatore Mannino, 52, had looked at weather forecasts for Aberdeen and Edinburgh before he disappeared.

The father-of-four had dropped his children off at school and was last seen at a railway station after parking his car.

Investigators found plans for a disappearance, starting with a bag left at home with 10,300 euros in cash, possibly to tide his family over, the Times reports.

His credit cards and wallets were left behind, but his identity card was missing.

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A coded message left behind was unscrambled by his 18-year-old son, Filippo, who believed it read “Forgive me, I’m sorry”.

Aerospace student Filippo told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “It was a message papa left me to decipher, I am sure of it, because he knew I am passionate about mathematical games.”

Mr Mannino, a former supermarket manager, was described as “tranquil” and “happy”. He left his mobile phone behind, with the recent call history deleted.

Nearly a month after medics were called to St Giles’ Cathedral, Mr Mannino is still being treated in the Royal Infirmary.

But he has no memory of his identity, does not know where he came from or who his relatives are.

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