Mum of man missing in Sardinia 'living in limbo'

The mother of a British holidaymaker who vanished in Sardinia says she is still "living in limbo" five months after her son disappeared.

Michael Frison, 25, from Chard, Somerset, went missing in the northern part of the Italian island on 13 July.

"My heart is broken without Michael," said Cristina Pittalis, who has climbed mountains and searched caves and rivers to find her son.

Despite a huge search operation involving drones, a helicopter, a mountain rescue team and volunteers, Mr Frison has not been found. His mother is now urging a woman from Jersey to come forward, as she believes she may have answers that could help an Italian criminal investigation.

Ms Pittalis continued: "It's like living in limbo. Our lives are on standby since the day he was reported missing.

"It's a continuous nightmare. It's unbearable not knowing what happened."

After the Italian authorities called off the official search after 10 days, Ms Pittalis has taken it upon herself to look for her son.

"I'll go up mountains, I climb rocks, I go inside holes, caves, rivers," she explained.

"You cut trees on the way, you cut shrubs, you just move anything. The terrain is not safe at all. It's not a walk in the park at all.

"My job is to go out looking for my son. My job is to find my son."

The Italian authorities have begun a criminal investigation, which is currently ongoing.

Ms Pittalis has now urged the woman from Jersey, called Niomi, to come forward: "I am appealing for her to get in touch with me or the authorities because we need her to give a little bit more information about what happened."

Mr Frison, who grew up in Bristol, had gone to Sardinia to celebrate his 25th birthday with relatives.

He had also been volunteering on a farm in the northern part of the Italian island.

Ms Pittalis said her son had travelled to a farm in a region called Gallura with the young woman from Jersey, who he had met at a swimming pool where he worked as a swimming teacher back in the UK.

The last time Ms Pittalis heard from her son was on 12 July, the day before he went missing.

Two days later, Ms Pittalis said she was contacted by Niomi and the owner of the farm where she and Mr Frison were volunteering.

According to the information they gave to the Italian police, Mr Frison had gone for a walk and had come back in a "confused state", with symptoms of heat stroke.

They said Mr Frison went for another walk and never came back. His clothes, a T-shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of trainers were found nearby.

He left his suitcase, passport, mobile phone and a laptop behind at his accommodation.

Ms Pittalis has described the area where her son went missing as an "extremely remote" area with "impervious terrain".

"It's very dry. There are no trees. It's all full of shrubs."

Ms Pittalis said she had a "wonderful relationship" with Mr Frison and that there was "no reason" he would have left his mother and his younger brother.

"He was really, really happy. There was no sign at all of struggling mental health issues," she said.

Ms Pittalis said she had met Niomi in person when she went looking for Mr Frison in Sardinia in July, but has not had any contact with her since.

Some Sardinian locals have braved the harsh terrain to join Ms Pittalis on her desperate search to find her son.

Nearly 4,000 people have joined a Facebook group set up by members of the public who want to help find Mr Frison.

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