Family of dead restaurateur appeals for media let-up

(see related) (ANSA) - ROME, JAN 16 - The relatives of a Lodi restaurateur who is believed to have committed suicide following a social media backlash over an allegedly fake critique of her pizzeria on Tuesday appealed to the press to "give them a break".
    "Giovanna Pedretti's daughter, husband and mother feel under siege, every time they leave home finding a reporter waiting for them in the street to ask questions," said the family through its lawyer lawyer Simona Callegari.
    "They are experiencing enormous pain, their request to the press is to give them a break, to respect the suffering of a family pending more solid elements from the investigation," added Callegari.
    Pedretti, from Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, was found dead in a river last Sunday after being hounded by media amid allegations that she had faked a review about her pizzeria and then replied to it in order to get publicity.
    Lodi prosecutors have opened a probe into instigation to suicide currently without suspects in order to establish the origin of the post. (ANSA).