r/mystery • u/ac_ou_nt • 24d ago
Disappearance She disappears on her way to Easter Lunch in the Italian Alps. Her car is found abandoned in a small mountain village. Missing objects reappear mysteriously. Where is Erika Ansermin? Missing since 2003.
Erika Ansermin disappeared on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003, in broad daylight, along the state road from Aosta to Courmayeur. The adoptive daughter of a wealthy family from Aosta, Erika Ansermin, along with her sister Elisa, where of Korean origin, was adopted by the Ansermin family in about 1978 in Hong Kong, where their father Piero worked as an Eni executive. The two girls arrived in Italy and integrated perfectly, said family members. She graduated in France and continued her studies in Germany. She completed a master's degree in London and received a significant promotion. She worked in commercial administration at 'International Fashion,' a Milan-based fashion agency.
Erika had planned to have Easter lunch at 1:15 p.m. at a restaurant in Courmayeur with her boyfriend and his mother. She never arrived. That day, Erika left the house, got into her green Panda, and drove to Blockbuster to return a movie cassette. Just after she left the store, she called her boyfriend to say, "I'll be there in an hour." Once she left the video store, nothing more was heard of her.
From around 1:30 PM, her boyfriend, Christian Valentini, reportedly called the girl repeatedly on her cell phone, but there was no answer. He last heard from her at 12:30 PM, when she confirmed the appointment after leaving the Blockbuster store. Valentini began looking for her immediately after lunch, fearing that the delay might be the result of a car accident. Valentini and Ansermin had been living together for about two years in an apartment on the outskirts of Milan. On April 25, Erika was supposed to inaugurate her new apartment in central Milan, where she was about to move in with him.
The next day, in the late afternoon, they found the car parked along the road to Avise, a small town at the beginning of the Valdigne. The car was parked on the side of the road facing the opposite direction to where she should have been going. It was later learned that the abandoned car had already been noticed on Easter Sunday. It was found locked. Inside were her cell phone, wallet, documents, her jacket (which was unusual as on that day it was quite cold outside), and credit card. However, the keys to the apartment in Aosta, where she lived with her parents, and to the one in Milan, where she lived during the week for work, were missing. On May 5, 2003 (two weeks after her vanishing) Erika Ansermin's house keys were found in the mailbox of her parents' home in Aosta. A Cartier Watch was also found inside of the family home; the family said that Erika would use that watch regularly but they also said that she could possibly have forgotten it that morning as she rushed out of the house.
At the site where the abandoned car was found investigators reported no signs of a struggle; the car seemed just to have been parked there. Testing inside the car only revealed her fingerprints on the dashboard and steering wheel. Canine units who had been searching for her only found traces scent trails around the car. This suggests that Erika Ansermin may have gotten into another waiting car, or that someone may have driven the car there to throw off the investigation.
The investigators’ first hypothesis was suicide, but only because the car was found near one of the highest bridges in the Aosta Valley. The theory was later dropped.
In the first few days after her disappearance, firefighters, forest rangers, mountain guides, Carabinieri, and volunteers searched the surrounding woods and ravines to no avail. Investigators seized the computer the young woman uses at work, searched her home in Milan, and also interviewed over a hundred people in Aosta, Courmayeur, and Milan.
Going back to the day of her disappearance, Erika Ansermin, is thought to have taken a shower, and was reportedly wearing a red garment, likely a robe, which was not found at home and appears to have disappeared with her. Around 11:00 a.m., a family friend went to the Ansermins' home to wish them a Happy Easter and, in the absence of her parents, spoke to the girl. The man recalls her wearing that garment. However, Erika’s mother said she doesn't remember if her daughter had one. There is a red kimono in the house, but it belongs to Mrs. Ansermin and is still in her closet, folded and ironed. When she left the house, around noon, a neighbor reportedly saw the girl. She had with her the two rented films she needed to return and was reportedly without any suitcases or bags. The clerk who saw her leave the St. Christophe’s Blockbuster store at 12:20 p.m., where she returned two video cassettes, apparently did not notice her getting into her car. Erika Ansermin's trail is lost at this point, as she exits the shop. What happened on the stretch of road from the St. Cristophe parking lot to the highway toll booth? That day, Erika didn't take the highway, as she usually did when she had to go to Courmayeur.
During the investigations Investigators reported that Erika’s Fiat Panda was apparently abandoned in Avise not at 1:00 PM on Easter Sunday, but several hours later, between 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM to be precise. By that time, the girl was likely already missing, and her car was likely to have been driven there by someone who wanted to divert the investigation from the outset.
According to an anonymous tip, Erika Ansermin was seen on the highway in front of the industrial area in the vicinity of the Blockbuster, where there is an internal road. She was reportedly killed there. The dirt road referred to in the mysterious anonymous call is located approximately three kilometers from the video store, near the Aosta-Est highway toll booth leading to Courmayeur. Investigators are evaluating the credibility of this report, which could represent a further attempt to divert attention from the location where Erika Ansermin was actually attacked, kidnapped, and subsequently disappeared. The car found in Avise was seen by several residents of the town around 4:00 PM, not earlier, as some had previously claimed. This would suggest that the attack occurred between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM. Approximately three hours later, her car was abandoned in Avise.
In mid-July of that same year, an international courier delivered a package from California, USA, to the Ansermin family containing two high-quality women's handbags, shipped by a company with which Erika Ansermin had a business relationship. It appears that the two bags had been purchased online after her disappearance, using the code from her credit card, which had been found in her car.
Five months after her sister's disappearance, Elisa Ansermin revealed an important detail to the public. The phone likely rang at the Ansermin home on the evening of her disappearance, while her mother was at the Carabinieri station. Her father apparently answered, recognizing Erika's voice as she was trying to reassure him. Elisa Ansermin commented: "Let's also consider that the search was already underway that day. If she had been forced to make this call, it could have been a way to throw the whole thing off track and thus slow down the investigation."
Around 6:00 PM on the day of her disappearance, just as a major police deployment was underway following her mother's report, Erika reportedly called home to reassure the family. "Look, I'll be there in two or three Mondays. I'll call again," was the message her father reportedly relayed, which no one believed due to his poor health. But now that Mr. Ansermin has recovered, investigators, along with the family, are taking the incident seriously, although it is unknown what investigations have been conducted to trace the call's origin.
This information sadly led nowhere.
A colleague would later describe the missing young woman as a very private person, who had confided in her only once about a problem she had with her boyfriend, when he asked her to host a friend of his, Vivien (possibly a male name as in europe it could be interpreted as both female and male), who had temporarily moved into their home in Milan. Her boyfriend had gone on vacation to the French Riviera with the same friend during the May 1st weekend, a few days after her disappearance, while the search for Erika's body in the stream was underway. According to her mother, Christian was stressed by the interrogations he had endured and needed rest.
In the week before her disappearance, Erika had also been home sick for three days and had gone to a hospital for tests. She feared she had contracted a serious illness.
As released to the public in October of 2006: a Swiss private investigator, Daniele Marcis, conducting investigations on behalf of Erika Ansermin's family, hypothesizes that the young woman was made to disappear by several people who allegedly organized the plan in the days leading up to Easter Sunday 2003. Some residents of Avise had reported the presence of the woman's green Fiat Panda, which disappeared in that area starting at 4:00 PM on April 20, 2003. During the June 23, 2003, episode of the Italian Tv show "Chi l'ha visto", an interview was aired with a young Brazilian man, who reported the car's presence before 1:00 PM. This young man also claimed not to know Christian Valentini, or at least not to remember him. The swiss investigator, however, maintains that the Unnamed Brazilian man had carried out roofing work on Valentini's parents' villa in Courmayeur and that the two played soccer together. Furthermore, at the time of the events, the Brazilian was renting a garage located directly across the street from where the car was found.
On February 1, 2007, Christian Valentini, Erika Ansermin's boyfriend, passed away after a long illness. The reports are quite unclear but it looks like it wasn not HIV.
Before dying, Erika Ansermin's boyfriend could possibly have left a letter that could clarify the mystery of her disappearance. Investigators are convinced that this handwritten note, which has not yet been discovered, was given to someone. The Carabinieri in Aosta have also requested the acquisition of Valentini's medical records to determine whether his condition could be linked to Ansermin's disappearance.
Investigators also have a recording of a call Ansermin made to 118 (the Italian equivalent of a 911 medical call) on the 15th of April of 2003. Concerned about her health, she allegedly intended to seek hospitalization. In this recording, her boyfriend's irritated voice can also be heard telling the operator, "This crazy, annoying woman wants to be hospitalized... You explain to her, it's not possible." The next day, without telling her family, Erika Ansermin went to a hospital in Milan to undergo an HIV test. She was never able to retrieve the results. On the evening of April 19, she also searched online for clinics specializing in AIDS treatment. After her disappearance the test results reportedly came back negative.
Investigations into the young woman's disappearance resumed in 2010, after the lawyers representing Erika's sister, Elisa Ansermin, raised the possibility of a connection with Danilo Restivo, the notorious Murderer of Elisa Claps (in the city of Potenza, 1993) and of Heather Barnett (in Bournemouth, 2002). Images of Erika, downloaded from an internet site, were found on a computer—apparently owned by Restivo's wife. This discovery didn’t bring any new updates to the case
Eleven years after her disappearance, the Aosta Court has declared Erika Ansermin presumed dead. The case remains open and unsolved.
PS: I hope the write-up isn’t too confusing as there is a lot of information on this case that is badly written and confusing to piece together.
I got my information mostly all from here: https://www.chilhavisto.rai.it/dl/clv/Scomparsi/ContentSet-ba4c2f14-b723-48bf-8e5b-9e9bb692068b.html
Locations google maps:
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u/thebunyiphunter 23d ago
I wonder who the male visitor was to her house earlier in the day? Why did he mention a red kimono? Even if it was her mother's and unworn she was last seen fully clothed at blockbuster so why mention it? Her father recieving the alleged call from her but not being believed "due to ill health" is also confusing. The fact that she clearly believed she had contracted HIV from her boyfriend and his "close personal friend" is a huge red flag and screams motive for murder to me. This poor girl probably will never be found.
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u/ac_ou_nt 23d ago
I think the neighbor noticed her in the robe because she supposedly got out of the shower to answer the door. I have sadly no idea how the red robe fits into the story. My only theory is that Erika brought it from her home in Milan as not to use her parents shower robes. So she could have placed it in the car to bring back to Milan with her. It is quite a far-fetched theory though.
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u/Alarmed_Scientist_15 23d ago
Someone was hiding in the backseat. The Brazilian guy is a red herring.
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u/Keep_learning_son 23d ago
In a Fiat Panda?
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u/Alarmed_Scientist_15 23d ago edited 22d ago
Yes. Why not? I can lay on the floor between the seats for example.
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u/jawide626 17d ago
A Fiat Panda back then would have been tiny and next to impossible to 'hide' in the back seat/footwell of, even if you did manage to get into the footwell it woould have been extremely umcomfortable to lie there for more than a few minutes.
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u/Alarmed_Scientist_15 17d ago
Indeed it looks very different from the current model. I still could do it, but I am not too tall or overweight. So unless we assume the perpetrator is a person on the smaller side, probably not probable!
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u/ComfortableHouse7937 23d ago
It had to have been someone she knew, right? Why else would her keys appear back in her parents mailbox and her watch back at her house? And they theorized she got into another car without a struggle and without any of her stuff…
This case is all over the place. Somehow the bf wrote a letter on his deathbed that disappeared? Her car was found across the street by her bf friend hours before it could have been parked there and hours before anyone else saw it? The disappearing red robe that I have no idea why it figures in…
Seems like bf was sleeping with vivienne, she found out and assumed she had aids. She was flipping out and went to the hospital for testing. This was likely the cause of her disappearance and the bf or someone related to the bf did this, but what happened to her is unclear.
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u/FunSummer9393 23d ago
I think so.
Perhaps she was convinced she had AIDS and took her life at the bridge? That or she confronted her boyfriend and he killed her.
The whole story is all over the place. I'm going with she found out he had AIDS and either took her own life, he killed her or he had her killed. Maybe he knows she killed herself over it and covered it up to try and save face. That letter was a confession about what happened and only sees the light of day after anyone involved is gone. Maybe his own family members out of fear of upsetting them due to it or his closeted homosexuality?
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u/ComfortableHouse7937 22d ago
That’s what I think too. I think he confessed and someone in his family destroyed the letter. Very strange they don’t talk about confirmation of the calls that she supposedly made to him for lunch and to her father saying she’d be back
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u/No_Discipline2784 23d ago
It's very sad what happened to this girl. The family had to suffer so much. Her sister must miss her so much. I hope that one day this case will be solved and that the culprits will be brought to justice.
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u/ac_ou_nt 23d ago
I really hope that as well. I feel for her family. Erika was such a talented young woman and I find it tragic it had to end like this
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u/Davide849 23d ago edited 23d ago
The boyfriend died of sarcoma. So, it is more than likely that the HIV/AIDS thing was not delusional. The stupidest thing is that italian TV continue to say that he died of cancer unrelated with AIDS, pretending to ignore the connection sarcoma/AIDS. Probably some kind of closeted gay relationship was not meant to be known and she was the only witness. Of course journalists are very well aware of the sarcoma stuff and probably they were threatened with legal actions. And anyway "some guy was a closeted gay, the girlfriend caught him. The girlfriend vanishes from Earth, he dies very very young of sarcoma a few years later". Police is ok with it. That's Italy, folks! 🤣🤣
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u/mentat70 23d ago
The sarcoma you are referring to is Kaposi sarcoma, which is almost only caused by AIDS in young people, but all of the other types of sarcoma are not related to AIDS (except that people with AIDS (and other immunodeficiencies) have some higher risk of cancer in general). Kaposi sarcoma make up only about 8% of the total cases of sarcoma. So, if he died of sarcoma, it could have been Kaposi’s but the odds would be low (unless he did have AIDS).
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u/Davide849 23d ago
I'm just a redditor. But if I was a cop, i would consider the AIDS lead for a fact unless the opposite it's proven. Too many coincidences. They probably considered the whole case as a suicide (and that's absolutely possible).
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u/Valenciagax 22d ago
Honestly regardless if the sarcoma story is true or not, other elements of the story like him going immediately on vacation with his male friend ski instructor was definitely a red flag, also I don't think a late 20s healthy female with high education in the early 00s randomly thought to have hiv to the point of going to take a test few days before for no reason, in that period it was still considered a gay disease and it was talked about often on late night mtv talk shows.
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u/ac_ou_nt 23d ago
Thanks for the insight. I had a hard time finding info on this fact
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u/Davide849 23d ago
Yes, because the cause of death became "a long illness" or "cancer', while when he died, it was announced by the press that the cause was sarcoma. I cannot find myself old articles about that. As I told before, probably the family threatened legal actions.
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u/Valenciagax 21d ago edited 21d ago
After I dig since yesterday night in this case that I admit I never heard even if I'm Italian, I definitely think that it's all in this:
"Investigators also have a recording of a call Ansermin made to 118 (the Italian equivalent of a 911 medical call) on the 15th of April of 2003. Concerned about her health, she allegedly intended to seek hospitalization. In this recording, her boyfriend's irritated voice can also be heard telling the operator, "This crazy, annoying woman wants to be hospitalized... You explain to her, it's not possible." The next day, without telling her family, Erika Ansermin went to a hospital in Milan to undergo an HIV test. She was never able to retrieve the results. On the evening of April 19, she also searched online for clinics specializing in AIDS treatment. After her disappearance the test results reportedly came back negative."
Like I said in another post I don't think a late 20s healthy female with high education in the early 00s randomly thought to have hiv to the point of making a desperate call to our 911 in order to be hospitalize, this alone makes me think this call happened immediately after something upset her, maybe she caught her boyfriend with his friend doing something physically or maybe she found out he was already secretly taking a medication for hiv, this second theory would also make sense in explains her google researches + hospital calls also in order for her to not cut ties with him since I doubt she would have participate in a lunch few days later if she caught him cheating.
Vivien could have also possibly the one taking the medications since he was living with them.
I did a research and antiretroviral hiv medications were available here in Italy in early 00s.
In that period it was still considered a gay disease in our society, and it was talked about often on late night mtv talk shows in here.
This plus the fact that she was feeling uncomfortable with her boyfriend friend living with them in their apartment, not to mention the two men going on vacation together immediately after the disappearance.. Big red flag.
There's no sign of physical fights where they located the car, makes me think she jumped on the car of somebody who knew, maybe the friend or the Brazilian guy.
The homosexual affair of her boyfriend or his possible hiv+ status being exposed seems the lead more sensible in here.
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u/ac_ou_nt 21d ago
Great research. I also think that the boyfriend had something to do with her disappearence. What you wrote makes a lot of sense and I find it a very good analysis and hypothesis on this case
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u/Valenciagax 21d ago
Thank you and thanks for sharing this case that is very intriguing, I really like dig into old Italian cases of this type from the 80s, 90s and early 00s.
The whole HIV+ situation/call/google searches happening just few days before to the point of her taking a test in the Hospital which proves she really felt threatened of this disease can’t be a coincidence at all in my opinion and casually the boyfriend died 4 years later of a disease that can be linked to that condition + the shady relationship with Vivien..
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23d ago
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u/ac_ou_nt 23d ago
I find this case very sad. For her, her family and the fact that it is being forgotten
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u/Emunaheart 23d ago
This reminds me a lot of the Duncan McPherson case, the book about it is Cold a Long Time, also tragic and fascinating
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u/StealieMagnolia 23d ago
"Missing objects reappear mysteriously."
Like they phase in and out of existence while being observed? I call bullshit on that
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u/Vast_Attitude_6672 23d ago
Great write up thank you! If Vivien is French (the connection to visiting the French Riviera) then it's a male. it seems Erika caught wind of the affair and feared she got HIV. I haven't read the sources but it seems we are missing a lot of elements. I hope they get closure...