ROME -- Father of missing Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, 31, who had not been heard from since the Berlin Christmas market massacre Monday, said he was not under 'any illusions,' days before confirmation of her death Thursday.

 The Italian woman called her mother before she set off to the Christmas stalls, saying over the phone, “Hello mum, how are you and dad? I’m off now to the Christmas markets in the centre. I want to get some presents, there are loads of cute things there (…) We’ll see each other on Wednesday.”

 Wednesday arrived, and, with still no response from their daughter, her parents believed her to be one of the victims of the terror attack in the German capital in which a truck ploughed into the crowd.

 Di Lorenzo’s mobile phone was found on the floor amongst the chaos, along with her metropolitan card, no sign of the woman herself. Any recent sign of activity on social media was recorded before the events of Monday evening.

 Her mother and brother left for Berlin Wednesday morning, the same day their loved one was expected to return to Italy, whilst her father left for the German capital Wednesday evening.

 In waiting for DNA results to eliminate any doubt, the parents had 'no hope' in finding their daughter alive.

 Police confirmed the death of Di Lorenzo on Thursday, as Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni referred to the Italian victim as an “exemplary citizen” over a Twitter message.

 “The pain of her death is great. Once again, one of our young compatriots has become, abroad, a victim of the senseless and appalling crime of terrorism. I express solidarity to Fabrizia’s parents and brother, and the closeness of our entire country,” the new Prime Minister said.

 Lorenza Di Lorenzo had travelled to Berlin after studying Linguistic Mediation at La Sapienza university in the Italian capital and International Relations in Bologna.

 sw