In the main investigations into murders and kidnappings we have always been accustomed to recognizing the faces of the victims, of the magistrates or of some officer who coordinated the investigations. Never investigators who physically work under the radar to solve cases, arrest those responsible for the most serious crimes or bring hostages home. One of these was lieutenant Walter Proia, who died today at the age of 59, for years one of the main collaborators of the Cagliari district anti-mafia directorate.
Carabiniere originally from Rome but transplanted to Sardinia from the beginning of his career, at a very young age he entered the Nuoro Operations Unit, where he worked mainly on investigations into kidnappings and murders, together with numerous other highly experienced soldiers: from those on kidnapping of Ferruccio Checchi and Giuseppe Vinci, to the investigation which revolved around the long and dramatic kidnapping of Silvia Melis, taken by bandits on 19 February 1997 and remained in the hands of the kidnappers until 11 November.
Working side by side with the magistrates of the Sardinian Anti-Mafia, from Mauro Mura to Gilberto Ganassi, as well as Danilo Tronci, Rita Cariello, Rossana Allieri and many other investigators, the soldier who passed away this afternoon after a long illness had also followed the investigations into the feuds of Orune and Oliena. For years, then, he had moved to Cagliari to the Information Unit of the Force, assigned to collaborate with the magistrates of the District Directorate.
Numerous messages of condolence and closeness have reached his family and friends from many colleagues and other members of the police force who worked with him over the years.
The funeral will be celebrated on Sunday 22 October at 4pm in the Parish of the Blessed Maria Gabriella in via Biasi 10 in Nuoro.
