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Venice Boardwalk Hit-And-Run Victim Identified As Italian Woman On Honeymoon
— naike gruppioni (@naikegru) July 24, 2013
The woman killed in last night's horrific hit-and-run on the Venice Beach Boardwalk has been identified as an Italian woman who was honeymooning in California.
Alice Gruppioni, 32, died just hours after a car plowed through the crowded boardwalk, injuring a dozen. Gruppioni was on a honeymoon with her new husband Christian Casadei, an architect and planner. The pair were married on July 20, and they were building a home together in Pianoro, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Gruppioni's aunt, sister and father-in-law are headed to Los Angeles to meet Casadei, who is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. His injuries were not serious.
Gruppioni is the daughter of Valerio Gruppioni, a businessman and the former executive director of Bologna's soccer team. She was the director of a family business based in Rastignano (also outside Bologna) called Sira Group.
The mayor of Pianoro Gabriele Minghetti, where the Gruppioni family had ties, told the local Italian website Il Resto Del Carlino, "It is an enormous tragedy that has upset our community."
Monsignor Paolo Rubbi, a local priest who knew Gruppioni since she was a little girl and married the couple, told the website, "In these last few months, I have seen them often for marriage preparations: they were very serious but also very simple and above all, they truly wanted to get married."
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He described Gruppioni as "strong" but also "sensitive" and "emotional." He added: "What has happened is a tragedy."
Even the soccer team AC Milan released a statement about her death saying that the team "mourns with Valerio Gruppioni, ex-president of Bologna, and cries with him and his family in the death of their beloved daughter Alice."
UPDATE 8/5: Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter told City News Service that Gruppioni died of blunt-force trauma to the head and neck. Her death is being treated as a homicide.
Related:
'Smiling' Driver Kills 1, Injures 11 After Plowing Through Crowded Venice Boardwalk
Councilman Wants Tighter Barriers At Site Of Deadly Venice Hit-And-Run
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