There was emotion and heartbreak today in Sassari at the funeral of William Manca, found dead on September 10th on the Ponti Pizzinnu road. The 45-year-old Sassari native, a lifelong resident of the historic center, was given a final farewell in the packed Servants of Mary Church.
Priest Don Eugenio Cavallo, who officiated the Mass, introduced the ceremony by reminding us to "say yes to good things, and no to evil," a multi-layered warning considering the man's passing. In the front row were William's relatives, his brothers, and his mother, who repeatedly spoke her son's name.
Applause as the coffin was released, and tears flowed for the 45-year-old whose fate the Carabinieri are investigating, trying to cover up the gaps in the case surrounding him. William Manca disappeared on the night of September 6th, only to be found four days later amidst vegetation, in an advanced state of decomposition, in a landfill.
The autopsy found no signs of violence, but questions remain as to how he ended up in that stretch of countryside and whether, by chance, someone took him there. The police, coordinated by prosecutor Ermanno Cattaneo, are said to be focusing their attention on several people, possible traveling companions on the last evening William was seen alive.
