The drowning death of 20-year-old volleyball player Simona Cinà during a graduation party in Bagheria, near Palermo, has left her family demanding clarity and truth. “What happened? How did she die? We want clarity, we want the truth,” cry the parents, brother, and sister of the young woman who died amidst a celebration attended by 80 others.
An autopsy, ordered by the Termini Imerese Prosecutor’s Office leading the investigation, is expected to shed light on the mystery surrounding Simona’s death. The autopsy will be performed Monday at Palermo’s Policlinico forensic institute; the victim’s body has been seized for this purpose. While prosecutors have opened a case currently listing no suspects and initially considering manslaughter, investigators increasingly lean towards natural causes or an accident without third-party responsibility. Even if confirmed, a key question remains: why did no one notice the girl was motionless in the pool?
Simona’s family continues to seek explanations. “Why did she die? Why?” is the unanswered question her mother, Giusy Corleone, tearfully posed to journalists gathered at the family lawyer’s office. “I want to know why she died, I want to know what happened,” Giusy repeated. Her father, Luciano Cinà, added, “I want clarity about her end.”
The parents cite numerous discrepancies. “There were only water bottles, the pool was clean, no one notified us – my wife had to call to get news about our daughter. Where did the alcohol go?” Luciano asked, overcome with tears. “Simona was an athlete, she was a fish in water. We want to know what happened.”
Simona’s twin sister, Roberta, and older brother, Gabriele, also pointed to inconsistencies. “It was a graduation party, but we saw no cake, found no alcohol. When we arrived, the kids were all wet and silent. We couldn’t find our sister’s clothes, only her shoes,” they said. Simona was found poolside wearing only a bikini. “We don’t want to point fingers hastily,” the siblings added, “but something is definitely wrong. We knew Simona; she wasn’t someone who would drown in a pool. She surfed, did many water sports. It’s impossible she couldn’t handle deep water.”
While some speculate drugs were present at the party, Simona’s siblings are certain she wasn’t involved. “We wondered, thought maybe someone put something in her drink,” they said. “But we are certain Simona would never willingly take anything. She was health-conscious, got regular check-ups, and her sports clubs always required medical certificates.”
The mystery centers on a crucial 50-minute window under investigation by the Carabinieri in Bagheria: from 3:20 AM, when a friend testified seeing Simona dancing near the DJ booth, to 4:10 AM, when a call was placed to emergency services. No one alerted the parents.
Videos show Simona smiling earlier in the evening, wearing jeans and a green shirt, holding a plastic cup, participating in group dancing poolside. Another clip shows her singing, dancing, and laughing with two friends in a room. However, the family’s lawyer, Gabriele Giambrone, finds the video footage sparse and strange: “There are very few videos. No images of the cake, the party itself… Nothing. Strange, no?” Roberta Cinà confirmed, “We only have two videos received from her closest friends. I found no others.”
The graduation party invitation, sent via WhatsApp to 80 guests, requested a contribution for an open bar. It included a line that now seems a tragic omen: “There will also be a villa pool! If by the end of the night someone is too drunk and happens to fall in, consider bringing a swimsuit in the car.”