Italian prosecutors say there is “reasonable suspicion” of a double homicide after the bodies of an American woman and her six-month-old daughter were found last Saturday in Rome’s Villa Pamphilj park. An American man has been arrested in connection with the deaths.
The suspected killer, 46-year-old Rexal Ford, was arrested Friday on the Greek island of Skiathos under a European arrest warrant. He is expected to be extradited to Italy within 20–25 days, though U.S. authorities may also request his handover.
Deputy Prosecutor Giuseppe Cascini confirmed the double homicide investigation following Ford’s arrest. The woman has not yet been formally identified, and the cause of her death remains unknown.
According to Italian media, Ford had been traveling around Europe for two years. It is still unclear when or how he met the woman and the child, or how long they had been together.
Lead from Chi l’ha visto?
A crucial lead came from a citizen who recognised Ford from an image aired on Italy’s Chi l’ha visto? TV programme. The tipster claimed to have seen a violent altercation involving Ford and the woman in early June, just days before the bodies were found. “It was a terrible scene. The man was clearly in an altered state and was yanking the woman, who was holding a baby girl,” the witness said.
On 5 June, Ford was seen entering a hotel near Largo Argentina with a baby and a trolley. The child’s mother was not present. Staff at the hotel alerted police when it emerged he was not a registered guest. Officers recognised Ford from a previous encounter days earlier in Campo de’ Fiori, where he had claimed to be the child’s father. When asked what had happened to the woman seen with him before, he reportedly replied, “My wife has left.”
The family had reportedly been in Italy since April. Police have found no official record of their entry. Witnesses in the St. Peter’s area said the trio were often seen around the San Silverio market. They used public restrooms to wash and ate at outdoor tables.
Ford’s name had surfaced in Caritas records, indicating the family may have sought support from the Catholic charity.
Investigators are now reconstructing Ford’s movements using credit card transactions and phone data. The full circumstances of the woman’s and child’s deaths remain under investigation.
