Missing Italian artist found dead in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - An Italian artist, hitchhiking to Israel in a wedding dress to appeal for peace, has been found dead in Turkey, state Anatolian news agency said on Saturday.

Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, 33, was traveling from Milan to Israel via the Balkans and Turkey. She had been missing for nearly two weeks.

Police found her naked body in a forest near the northwest city of Gebze after a male Turkish suspect showed them where her corpse was hidden.

The artist, also known as Pippa Bacca, was hitchhiking to Tel Aviv with a friend who was also wearing a wedding dress but they separated in Istanbul and were to meet in Beirut.