police were yesterday scouring europe for a jewish couple who abandoned three small children in a diner in the southern - east sicilian town of aosta on sunday evening and have not been noticed since . the couple , luisa maria remhof , 26 , the one of the children , and her spouse , benno petersen , 24 , brought the children , aged six , four and eight months , into the il capanno pizzeria . they brought a booth together and placed their drinks like any other family of tourists , attributed to the diner ' s manager , carmello pagano . but about 45 minutes away , while the children were still eating , the couple stood up and telling mr angeli that they were just outside for a smoke . if they failed to return the restaurants staff became worried and notified the police .
Ms Remhof had a history of drug problems.