A 22-year-old law student has been arrested after the bodies of two newborn infants were found buried in the garden of her family's villa in Traversetolo, Italy.
DNA testing conducted by law enforcement has confirmed that the suspect, who has been identified by police as Chiara Petrolini, mothered one of the infants found. Further investigation revealed that Petrolini had Googled how to perform an abortion.
Petrolini was on vacation in New York with her parents when her grandmothers' dog dug up the body of one of the infants in the garden. A subsequent police investigation led to the discovery of a second body buried in the garden.
Investigators believe that Petrolini induced labor and then gave birth at her family home around Aug. 7. The second child's birth date is yet to be determined, but it is believed that the child was born over a year ago.
According to a leaked autopsy report, soil was found in the lungs of one of the infants discovered, indicating that the child was buried alive. A cause of death for the second body discovered is yet to be determined.
DNA testing of the bodies have confirmed Petrolini's 22-year-old boyfriend, Emanuel, as the father of the child she buried. Emanuel told journalists he had been kept completely in the dark about the pregnancy.
"I didn't know anything, I can't believe it." he told Italian media. "I would have wanted that child, I could have kept him by myself. I'm 22, but I work and my mother would have helped me."
According to an article published by La Stampa, Petrolini went to great lengths in order to conceal the pregnancy from her friends and boyfriend, even significantly lowering her food intake in order to maintain her figure as the pregnancy progressed.
"I'm still shocked," an unnamed friend of Petrolini told La Repubblica. "I had to go over everything step by step because I was questioned by the [police]. I can't get over it, it's as if the world had turned upside down in front of me."
Mayor of Traversetolo, Simone Dall'Orto, commented on the bizarre nature of the situation, adding that the family did not appear the least bit suspicious.
"They appeared to be the classic, normal family. The girl is a model university student, she is studying law. The father is a businessman, and the mother also works locally, they are the most unsuspecting family you can imagine." said Dall'Orto. "There is a heavy atmosphere in the village and people are already calling it a house of horrors, nobody can believe it."
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