Australian Woman Alleges She Escaped Two Kidnapping Attempts in Italy Within Hours

An Australian traveller has shared the terrifying details of how a solo trip to Italy turned into what she described as two separate kidnapping attempts within a matter of hours.

Stephanie, a 36-year-old executive from Melbourne, said the frightening incidents occurred during a visit to Sicily in October after she stayed behind in Europe while her friends returned home.

Known for sharing DIY home renovation content on social media, Stephanie had travelled to Italy to explore the country’s popular €1 house initiative, which offers abandoned properties for a symbolic one euro, and to enjoy kiteboarding in the coastal town of Lo Stagnone near Marsala.

According to her account, the nightmare began after she attended a social gathering with fellow kiteboarders. As the group prepared to move to another bar, she accepted a ride from a European expatriate she had met at the gathering, believing it was safe.

However, she alleged that the driver suddenly accelerated away from the group despite her repeated requests to stop.

“I got into the car, and he starts driving. We go 300 meters, 400 meters, and he says, ‘Let’s see if we can get this car to 160,'” Stephanie told news.com.au.

She said she immediately became frightened as the driver continued to increase his speed on narrow Sicilian roads despite her pleas to be let out.

“I’m terrified. So I start pleading, begging, and the car goes faster. Screaming, yelling, and the car goes faster.”

Realising she could not persuade the driver to stop, Stephanie quietly sent her live location to her kiteboarding instructor while remaining in the moving vehicle.

She said she later overheard the passenger asking whether other people would be joining them at the driver’s residence, only for the driver to reply that no one else was coming.

According to Stephanie, the exchange heightened her fears because it appeared even the passenger did not know what the driver intended.

After travelling roughly 12 kilometres, the vehicle entered a gated compound. Seeing an opportunity, Stephanie checked the door handle, discovered it was unlocked, and escaped.

“It opened, and I just ran and ran, for as long as I could, before I found an object to hide behind and check if I was being followed, and I wasn’t,” she recalled.

After walking several kilometres, Stephanie reached a nearby town, where she encountered a security guard. Using a translation application on her phone, she explained what had happened, and the guard agreed to drive her back to her accommodation.

However, Stephanie alleged that the situation took another disturbing turn during the journey.

She claimed the security guard stopped in an alleyway and used her phone to type a message asking, “What are you going to do for me for driving you home?”

Fearing for her safety once again, Stephanie said she immediately opened the vehicle’s door and fled into a nearby vineyard.

She eventually made her way back to her hotel on foot, hiding whenever vehicles approached and stopping at vending machines along the route to buy drinks so there would be a record of her movements if needed.

Stephanie said she spent the following day in tears before informing members of the kiteboarding community about her ordeal, adding that they were deeply shocked by what had happened.

Although the experience has forced her to postpone plans to purchase property in Italy, she stressed that she does not believe the incidents reflect the country or its people.

“It’s absolutely not an Italian thing,” she said, noting that the first driver was a European expatriate rather than an Italian national.

She added that violence against women is a global problem and pointed out that similar and even more serious incidents occur in her home country of Australia.

“I think we’d like to say it’s isolated to other countries. But we can see by domestic violence rates and the amount of women being killed in Australia that it’s not safe here either.”

Stephanie said she would only consider returning to Italy for a renovation project if she had trusted companions with her, saying the traumatic experience has fundamentally changed the way she approaches solo travel.