Family’s joy at finding their missing daughter in a tiny Italian town quickly turns to despair after their long-awaited reunion takes a sad turn
- Courtney Montesalvo suffers from bipolar disorder
- She stopped taking her medicine after getting married
- Her family have been trying to get her back for nine years
A family who tracked their missing daughter to a small town in Italy were left distraught after she declared she wanted nothing to do with them.
Courtney Montesalvo, who suffers from bipolar disorder and was previously diagnosed with postnatal psychosis, stunned her family when she left Australia in 2014 with her Italian husband and son, leaving behind her medication and mental health documents.
Her family tried to get in touch with her but phone numbers stopped working and the couple took down their Facebook accounts.
Three years later, with the help of a private detective, the Montesalvo family were able to track Courtney down to Ancona, a small town on the coast in central Italy.
Her father and younger sister went to speak to Courtney – only to find her with a completely different appearance and walking around in circles on a tennis court in a state they claim bordered on catatonic.
To make matters worse, when they spoke to her, she told them she wanted nothing to do with them, as they had previously ‘ruined her life’.
Courtney Montesalvo, who suffers from bipolar disorder and was previously diagnosed with postnatal psychosis, stunned her family when she left Australia in 2014 with her Italian husband
Courtney looked completely different when her family tracked her down after three years
The family’s visit to Italy to try and persuade Courtney to come home was six years ago.
In the years since, they have tried unsuccessfully to find Courtney’s whereabouts and get in touch with her.
Her father Rob spoke about the harrowing 2017 reunion in an interview with A Current Affair.
‘I just sat in the car and couldn’t stop crying. All I thought of was that movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She was just walking in circles,’ Rob said.
‘You could see it’s not her, she doesn’t speak like that. She doesn’t look like that. Just totally different.’
The family insist that Courtney’s claims are untrue and her allegations stem from the fact she is not taking her medication.
Her sister Claudia added: ‘It was hard because that’s not my sister. Like, she was completely different and you know, she just kept walking and was just ignoring us.’
Courtney, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 14, met Italian national Matteo Pomponio online about a decade ago.
The pair married a few months later and, according to the family, Courtney then stopped taking her medication.
The Montesalvo family in happier times. Courtney has been in Italy for nine years now
The couple soon had a son named Jordan and Courtney was later diagnosed with postnatal psychosis.
She was admitted to a specialist postnatal ward but was quickly discharged from the hospital, despite her diagnosis.
‘All the mental health medicine scripts and everything were left, so clearly that wasn’t taken with her,’ Courtney’s eldest sister Kylie said.
It was shortly afterwards that the couple and their son moved to Italy, leaving her family shocked and concerned.
In the six years since their visit to Italy, the Montesalvos believe Courtney is living with Pomponio’s family but are concerned that her mental health may have deteriorated to the point where she is a danger to herself.
‘I’ve got this funny feeling we’re never going to see her again,’ her mother Jody said.
The family is now talking to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
A spokesperson said: ‘The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman in Italy.
‘Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further details.’
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