Mystery memory loss man may be missing Italian

Police are investigating whether a mystery man taken ill in an Edinburgh cathedral last month is an Italian who vanished from his home near Pisa the previous day.

Officers appealed for information after a middle-aged man was found disorientated in St Giles’ Cathedral on September 20.

But after he was taken to hospital the patient was unable to tell staff who he was.

Police confirmed they are investigating if the mystery man is an Italian who vanished from his home near Pisa on September 19.

Italian police say that Salvatore Mannino, 52, had looked at weather forecasts for Aberdeen and Edinburgh before he disappeared.

He left behind a bag with €10,300 in cash at home along with a cryptic note.

The father of four had dropped his children off at school and was last seen at a railway station after parking his car.

Investigators found plans for a disappearance, starting with a bag left at home with €10,300 in cash, possibly to tide his family over while he was gone.

His credit cards and wallets were left behind, but his identity card was missing.

A coded message left behind was unscrambled by his 18-year-old son, Filippo, who believed it read ‘Forgive me, I’m sorry’.

Aerospace student Filippo told journalists: “It was a message papa left me to decipher, I am sure of it, because he knew I am passionate about mathematical games.”

The family’s lawyer, Ivo Gronchi, said: “The family is living through a nightmare, and asks anyone who has seen him to get in touch.”