Greek authorities have arrested a 46-year-old American man suspected of murdering a woman and her infant daughter, whose bodies were discovered last weekend in a park in Rome, Italy.
The suspect, identified as Rexal Ford, was taken into custody on Friday on the Greek island of Skiathos, following the issuance of an Italian arrest warrant. Italian prosecutors say there is “strong evidence” linking Ford to the deaths of the victims — both believed to be American nationals — according to reports from L’Unione Sarda, Il Messaggero, and Corriere della Sera.
The bodies of the 30-year-old woman and her baby, estimated to be between 6 and 8 months old, were found naked and without identification in Villa Pamphili park in Rome on Saturday. Authorities discovered the mother’s body partially hidden under a black bag, while her baby was found several hundred meters away.
Rome’s Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said the mother had likely been killed several days before the infant, raising suspicions of a double homicide. “It’s hard to understand how someone who had been traveling with a woman and a baby could leave the country without seeking help after their deaths,” Lo Voi told CBS News. “In itself, that doesn’t look good.”
Italian investigators were able to identify Ford using video surveillance and eyewitness accounts, some of which showed him and the woman speaking English and arguing in the streets. At one point, police even recorded Ford’s details during an earlier altercation, which later helped link him to the victims.
Authorities pieced together the identities of the trio through footage captured at a soup kitchen near the Vatican, as well as interviews with homeless individuals who had seen them in the park.
Crucially, police say Ford’s fingerprints were found on the black bag covering the woman’s body. Additional evidence included the baby’s pink dress, discovered in a nearby trash can, and 40 items recovered from the scene — including a bra and sleeping bag. The woman reportedly had a tattoo of a skeleton with a surfboard in colors resembling the Lithuanian flag.
Ford was traced and arrested in Greece through cellphone data. Italian authorities are expected to submit an extradition request to Greek courts, which will then decide whether to send Ford back to Italy to face charges.
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