BARI, Italy, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Italian firefighters who rescued an 11-year-old boy from a well Tuesday found the bodies of two brothers who disappeared in 2006.
The well, or cistern, was under an abandoned building near the brothers' home in Gravina near Bari in southeastern Italy. The boys' bodies showed signs they survived for some time, possibly dying of cold and starvation, the news agency ANSA reported.
The father of Francesco and Salvatore Pappalardi, ages 13 and 11, was arrested in November on suspicion of killing them.
Bari Police Chief Vincenzo Maria Speranza said the brothers may have fallen accidentally, as did the boy rescued Tuesday, but that there was evidence against the father.
Emilio Marzano, the Bari prosecutor, visited the scene and said the boys died "horrible deaths."
The 11-year-old boy who fell in Tuesday had two broken legs.
