ROME - A homeless Italian man was detained on Tuesday on suspicion of murdering 19-year-old American university student Beau Solomon, police said.
Massimo Galioto, 40, was detained overnight and was being held for questioning later in the day by a judge on suspicion of aggravated homicide, a police spokesman said, declining to give further details.
Solomon's body was found tangled in vegetation in the Tiber River on Monday, three days after he went missing.
Solomon, from Wisconsin, had been due to start a study program at John Cabot University, whose campus is in the central Trastevere district.
The neighborhood is near the river and popular with young people because of its many bars. Solomon was last seen leaving a pub early on Friday morning.
ADVERTISEMENT
Solomon's brother Jake told NBC News that, after he went missing, their parents had called his credit card company and learned that thousands of dollars had been charged to his card in Milan, hundreds of miles away in northern Italy.
Beau Solomon had just completed his first year of study as a personal finance major in the at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a statement issued by the university. The statement said he previously studied at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and UW-Richland. He is from Spring Green, about 40 miles west of Madison.
Other UW–Madison students participating in the John Cabot program are safe and accounted for.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis consoled the parents of the young man during a private meeting at the Vatican.
Forum News Service contributed to this report.
