Ashley Olsen was found nude
on her bed in her rented apartment on Saturday after her boyfriend had the
owner open the door, alarmed that the woman had failed to respond to phone
calls.
The body had bruises and scratches on the neck, and an autopsy determined
that she had been strangled with a cord or a rope.
The Italian news agency
ANSA reported early Thursday that police detained the suspect Wednesday based
on DNA evidence taken from the scene. Investigators had narrowed in on the
suspect using video surveillance cameras along the route from the nightclub
that showed them together Friday morning, a day before Olsen's body was found.
The man was known to authorities for being involved in the local drug scene.
Authorities released no
other details. The lead prosecutor had declined to comment on the case earlier
Wednesday, and police officials say they are not authorized to speak to media
during the investigation.
A Senegalese immigrant was
detained Wednesday in the strangulation death of the 35-year-old American
woman, just hours after crime scene investigators returned to her Florence
apartment to search for clues identifying her killer.
Olsen, originally from
Summer Haven, Florida, had been living in Florence for three years, an active
member of the expatriate community and art scene. She had moved to Italy to
join her father Walter Olsen, who teaches in the Renaissance art city.
Walter Olsen issued a
statement late Tuesday expressing the family's grief and confidence that the
killer would be found.
"We are devastated
that our precious Ashley has passed away resulting from a horrible and
senseless crime," he wrote.
He described his daughter
as "a beautiful and creative young woman, with a happy, exuberant and
generous soul," adding: "We are heartbroken she was taken from
us."
He asked that the family be
left to grieve in peace and expressed "faith that the perpetrator will be
found and sentenced."
AP
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