He was a ghost for seven years. He hadn't been heard from in a long time. Roberto Coppola, a 40-year-old globetrotting Milanese chef at the time, had vanished into thin air. At the end of June 2016, he called his mother to "cancel" the woman's visit to Calgary, Canada, where he had moved in the interim. "Mom, don't come." Then there was nothing. Until Friday, when authorities informed Anna Maiorano that "her son is alive and well." They tracked him down in Texas. "I was born again. It's the best Christmas present I could ever hope for," she adds, recounting the arduous effort to find out what happened to Roberto, "without ever giving up on any hypothesis: I was only interested in knowing if he was okay." Following the dismissal of an original inquiry, investigators from the Milan Flying Squad recently initiated additional searches based on information from the Office of the Government's Special Commissioner for Missing Persons. At this point, the agents learned from some of the man's contacts about his prospective move to Texas in a camper, where he would always work in the restaurant industry. "He asked to be left alone for the time being," remarked his mother. "He also stated that when he is ready, he will contact me and explain his decision. But I don't care anymore. I wish to respect his right to privacy. Now I'm just relieved that he's okay."
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