http://article.wn.com/view/2010/03/18/R ... _church_x/

ROME -- The case of an Italian teenager who disappeared in 1993 has
returned to the spotlight after decomposed remains believed to be hers
were discovered in the church where she was last seen, police said Thursday.


At the same time, an unsolved 2002 murder in Britain has resurfaced,
with British police linking their case with the disappearance of the teen.


Elisa Claps vanished from her hometown of Potenza on Sept. 12, 1993 at
the age of 16.


She was last seen in the Most Holy Trinity church in downtown Potenza
with an acquaintance, Danilo Restivo, who later admitted that he had
spent about 10 minutes in the church with her before leaving.


Restivo has denied wrongdoing. He remains under investigation in the
case, his lawyer Mario Marinelli said Thursday. He said his client was
living in Britain and was calm.


Police in Dorset, meanwhile, linked the disappearance of Claps with the
slaying of a British woman, Heather Barnett, whose mutilated body was
found by her two children in the bathroom of her home in Bournemouth in
November, 2002.


"Strands of cut hair, not belonging to her, were placed in her right
hand," the police statement said. Dorset police linked the two cases in
a statement issued Thursday.


Potenza police spokesman Giuseppe Persano said that Italian authorities
had remained in contact with their British counterparts concerning Restivo.


In announcing the discovery of Claps' remains in Potenza, the police
noted that four British detectives had traveled to Potenza and other
Italian cities last October to interview and take DNA samples from the
hair of 15 women who had reported having their hair cut in unusual or
suspicious circumstances.


"We are continuing our normal contact with the Italian police and other
authorities - and will continue to assist them if and when asked," the
Dorset police said.


In Potenza, the decomposed remains believed to belong to Claps were
discovered in a corner of a hard-to-reach rooftop garret on the Most
Holy Trinity church on Wednesday by maintenance workers who had climbed
to the roof to fix a leak.


DNA tests will be performed to determine if the remains belong to Claps,
Potenza police spokesman Giuseppe Persano said.


Claps' brother Gildo Claps said Thursday that the glasses, a shirt and
shoes discovered alongside the remains belonged to his sister. Speaking
outside the church, he said the family will now redouble efforts to find
justice.


"She was there before everyone's eyes for 17 years, exactly where
everyone thought she was: in the last place where she had been seen,"
Gildo Claps said.

Missing woman's rotting corpse found under hotel bed

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The body of a Memphis woman missing since January was found Monday under the mattress of the hotel room where she had been living.

"The hotel staff actually made the discovery and called us," says Joseph Scott with the Memphis Police Department.

On January 27, 2010 Sony Millbrook was reported missing to the Memphis Police Department after she failed to pick-up her children from school. Officers were notified after family members received a call from the school that Sony had not picked up the children from school.

Family members advised officers that they checked the hotel where Sony Millbrook has been residing and she was not there. The family indicated no one was in the room. Sony had been staying at the Budget Lodge room 222 at 1533 East Brooks and was last seen there at 7:00 am by a staff member who advised officers the room had been locked out today for lack of payment but all of personal belongings were still inside the apartment. Officers contacted the Budget Lodge to verify this information via telephone.

The case was assigned to the Missing Persons Bureau for follow-up investigation, however due to the nature of the incident the case was reassigned to Homicide in February. A Homicide Investigator conducting a follow-up went to the Budget Lodge, and spoke to two clerks and a security guard. The investigator learned that Ms Millbrook did not make a payment after January 26th and her belongs were boxed up and the room released for rental. The family had been there on the 27th and 28th and removed items from the room. The room had been rented three times since January 29th till February 4th.

Homicide Investigators located Millbrook's boyfriend, LaKeith Moody, and interrogated him during the course of the investigation and later charged him with a gun violation. He is currently in Mason, TN being held on a federal gun charge. Moody remains a person of interest in this case.

On March 15, 2010 Homicide Investigators were called to the Budget Inn room 222 where the body of a female had been located under the bed, after a report of bad odor was reported in the room. The body was identified as Sony Millbrook and it is apparent that she was the victim of a homicide. The cause of death is not being released at this time.

The bed in which the victim was located is a metal box frame which sits directly on the floor and the box springs and mattress sit inside the metal frame. The room had been rented approximately 5 times and cleaned by the hotel staff numerous times since January 27th.

"I've worked in homicide for a long time and director Godwin says in his 37 years, he's never heard of anything like this, its stranger than fiction," said Scott.

The investigation into the murder of Sony Millbrook is ongoing and anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH (2247).


http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/lo ... l-mattress