“How are you?” “Still alive.” It is 7:16 p.m. on August 30. This would be the last message of the young Albanian Ferdinand Nokaj, 25 years old, born in Fano, Italy, living with his family in Colli al Metauro and for five years in Rovereto to study psychology. That evening Ferdinand disappears, Italian media write.
The next day, his brother reported him missing to the Fano carabinieri. Five days later, on 5 September, his body was found on the banks of the Adige River, in Grumo, in the municipality of San Michele all'Adige, about 42 kilometres from Rovereto. But no one had identified him and the family continued to search for him for another twenty days. The father repeatedly made his way to Trentino, unaware that his son was already in the morgue of the Santa Chiara hospital in Trento. He only recognized him on 25 September, last Friday.
Ferdinand had told his family that he had been attacked.
Three hours before that last message “still alive”, Ferdinand had told his family that he had been attacked in Rovereto by some Albanian boys. He had marks on his face and, above all, he was afraid. His father had told him to go to the carabinieri immediately. “That’s what I’m thinking of doing, Dad”, Ferdinand had replied.
It does not appear that he ever went there. At 5:21 PM he spoke to his brother again from the Rovereto train station. His brother thought he wanted to go home. At 7:16 PM he asked him how he was. "Still alive."
After that, Ferdinand did not respond again. The young man's death is being investigated by the Trento Prosecutor's Office, which has opened a file for incitement to suicide.
Ferdinand was born in Fano and lived with his family in Colli al Metauro.
Ferdinandi was born in Fano, while the family lives in Colli al Metauro. He had been living in Rovereto for five years, where he was pursuing a master's degree in Cognitive Sciences at the Faculty of Psychology. Meanwhile, during the summer, he worked in a pizzeria. On August 30, his parents came to Albania. The father said that Ferdinandi, during the afternoon, had confessed to him that he had fought with some Albanian boys and that he had been attacked.
After the attack, Ferdinand also published a 'Story' on Instagram, of which the family has saved a screenshot: marks are visible on the young man's face. The next day, the brother goes to the Fano carabinieri and reports the disappearance. Verifications on the phone lead to Termeno sulla Strada del Vino, in South Tyrol, where the last location of the mobile phone is identified, about 64 kilometers from Rovereto. It is not known how Ferdinand had covered that distance: he had only a light shoulder bag with him.

Father and mother interrupted their vacation in Albania and went to Rovereto
The father and mother interrupted their vacation in Albania and went to Rovereto. On September 1, they were at the Carabinieri. From that day on, the father began to travel continuously from Trentino. He looked for Ferdinand on the streets, talked to friends, acquaintances and the Carabinieri, but to no avail. Meanwhile, on September 5, on the banks of the Adige, in Grumo, the body of a young man was found, whom no one connected with Ferdinand.
The relentless search for family
The family continued to search relentlessly. In mid-September, the father turned to lawyer Francesco Bonatesta, who on September 18 wrote to the Government Commissariat for the Province of Trento, requesting the activation of the provincial plan for the search for missing persons.
And on the evening of September 24, at 11:10 p.m., the father's phone rang: the Rovereto carabinieri asked him to report the next day and accompanied him to the Santa Chiara hospital in Trento, where he identified his son's dead body by the face and also by a tattoo on his chest.