ELEVEN years ago, 16-year-old Elisa Claps vanished. The Italian teenager disappeared around lunchtime in her home town of Potenza near Naples and although her body has never been found, Elisa's family believe she died that day.

It was September 12 1993.

Since then, they have never given up hope of finding out what happened to a carefree, happy young girl.

The family's investigations have been spearheaded by her 35-year-old brother, Gildo, and this week the 11-year campaign to uncover the truth brought him to Bournemouth.

After his three-day visit with an Italian TV documentary crew from the programme Who Saw Her? Gildo believes he is nearer that truth.

"I think I am getting closer. I really believe it." he told the Daily Echo in an exclusive interview.

As we revealed three months ago, Dorset detectives visited Italy in January to investigate possible links between Elisa's disappearance and the frenzied murder of Heather Barnett in Bournemouth in November 2002 - coincidentally also the 12th of the month.

Heather was attacked with a knife and a hammer, her breasts removed and strands of cut hair, which was not her own, placed in her hands.

Her body was found by her two young children when they returned from school.

A reward of £10,000 by Crimestoppers has been offered for information leading to the conviction of Heather's killer.

In June this year, officers questioned an unemployed Italian national, Daniel Restivo originally from Potenza, who lives opposite Heather's house in Charminster. He was with them for three days and released without charge. Officers conducted a detailed forensic search of the property in Chatsworth Road he shares with his partner. He is now free on police bail while police inquiries continue.

Although Italian police had known since the beginning of this year there might be links between the two cases, the Claps family only found out in July.

It came as a bolt from the blue.

Speaking through an interpreter at a Bournemouth hotel overlooking the bay, Gildo, a businessman explained: "I spend quite a lot of time surfing the internet trying to find any new pieces of information about Elisa's case. One evening in July, I put in certain key words into a search engine and eventually came across Daily Echo stories about the Heather Barnett case and the links being investigated by Dorset police with Elisa's disappearance. As you can imagine I was stunned by this development. Absolutely shocked."

The family were puzzled as to why they weren't told by Italian police that British officers had been to Italy. They immediately made contact with Detective Superintendent Phil James of Dorset Police who is heading the Heather Barnett inquiry and was one of the officers who visited Italy in January. Gildo and Mr James met this week to discuss progress in the case. Gildo is full of praise for Dorset police's "kindness and help".

One of the features of Heather's case which struck a dramatic chord with Gildo was the hair left in her hands. "There were incidents in my town of women having hair cut from their heads while travelling on buses," he said. He was intrigued to learn on the internet of the plea by Phil James in the summer for anyone who had had a similar experience on Bournemouth buses to contact him.

A story in the Daily Echo resulted in four women coming forward with information which may yet provide a breakthrough. All of them said that they too had their hair chopped from their heads while travelling on buses.

Gildo's visit to Bournemouth, especially to the scene of Heather's murder in Capstone Road, has been an emotionally draining experience. At times during our interview he finds it difficult to speak.

Television journalist Franco de Chiara has been reporting on the Elisa case since a week after her disappearance and has devoted more time and energy to this story than to any other. He and Gildo are now close friends. He is puzzled by the number of false trails that have led him nowhere over the years. For instance, an email to her family in 1999 supposedly from Elisa said she had run away to Brazil and would not be returning. This was dismissed as a hoax. "This is the most important case," Franco says.

For next week's anniversary of Elisa's disappearance, Gildo and his family are planning a number of events in Potenza. They plan to plaster the small town with posters featuring pictures of both Elisa and Heather, and saying that they will not be forgotten. The publicity generated in Italy in the past month through the Heather link has given the case fresh impetus and Gildo's family renewed hope.

Phil James says inquiries into Heather's death are continuing. "We are all determined to bring her killer to justice. And if we can make a contribution to helping the family of Elisa Claps, we will do everything we can."

Gildo has set up a charity called the Penelope Association, which has its own website, to offer support and advice to the families of other missing people and to highlight Elisa. He named the charity after the wife of Greek hero Odysseus who waited years for the return of her husband from the Trojan War.

Gildo flew home on Friday and promised: "I have a message for whoever was responsible for Elisa's death. Until we find out what happened to her, we will always be at their shoulder."