French tourists’ camper van stolen with puppy inside

OSTIA - For the French father-daughter pair, their Roman holiday was nothing like the movies. Having left their campervan, a Peugeot Boxer (number plate CM618RJ), in a waterfront layby for a brief swim, they returned to an empty parking spot. Not only were all of their personal belongings in the van, but also and most importantly, their black and tawny puppy, by the name of Filon. The scandal happened on Saturday at the Belsito beach resort, on the Duilio waterfront.

Dominique, the father, who only speaks French, went to the police station to file a report, and delivered a photograph of the dog and the camper, but (as of yesterday evening) the search had still not yielded any results.

“The father and his daughter are desperate,” explains Valentina D.M., a staff member of Belsito is now with them. “Neither the embassy nor the authorities were able to help them at all, even with finding a place to stay for the night. We saw them as we were coming from the beach…they explained the situation to us and we decided to host them in our house, with our family.” She says the two are very shaken, “the child does nothing but cry at the thought that something terrible has happened to Filon and that she will never see him again.” The search for the campervan and the dog continues on social media, with the hope that useful information will present itself to the authorities.

rs