Holiday horror as grandmother, 66, crushed to death by bulldozer while sunbathing | World | News

A grandmother has been found crushed by a bulldozer on an Italian beach. Elisa Spadavecchia was on holiday in Pinarella di Cervia, near Bologna, with her ex-husband, when she was mangled by a bulldozer as a man was allegedly doing “works on the beach” without a license.

Ms Spadvecchia, 66, had been out for a walk when her ex-husband became concerned after she did not return. Giovanne Sfregola used the “Find My iPhone” feature to track down his ex-partner, but says he is now in an “ocean of pain” because of what he found. She had decided to sunbathe on the beach and was found dead on Saturday in horrific circumstances.

The retired teacher’s body was so badly injured that “even the lifeguard who witnessed the scene fell ill and ended up in hospital,” MailOnline reported.

Lerry Gnoli, the driver of the bulldozer, has reportedly been charged with manslaughter and authorities are looking into why he came to be at the beach, according to Need To Know.

Mr Gnoli, 54, allegedly has a previous homicide conviction and was released with no pre-trial conditions.

Though he claimed he was permitted to undertake “works on the beach” at the time, it has been reported that he was operating heavy machinery without a license.

Mr Sfregola told local media: “My wife went for her walk carrying only her phone. When it happened, she had nothing on her that could identify her. Not seeing her come back, I started calling her, but she didn’t answer. So I used ‘Find My iPhone’ to locate her phone.

“Once I found it, I got someone to take me to the exact spot where, sadly, I found my wife. They didn’t let me see her, but they told me that even the lifeguard who witnessed the scene fell ill and ended up in hospital.”

A retired policeman, Mr Sfregola, shared a week-old grandson with the victim.

He added: “We were over the moon since my daughter’s child was born. He’s not even three months old yet. Now, for us, it’s just an ocean of pain. Something devastating that consumes you inside because you can’t come to terms with it.”

Mr Gnoli’s lawyer, Vittoria Manes, said his client is “terribly sorry” for the “huge tragedy”.

He added: “He can’t understand how it could have happened and sends his condolences to the woman’s family.”