New fears for twins' family

Authorities are investigating whether the girls were taken to the French island of Corsica. Photo / Thinkstock

The uncle of Swiss twin girls who have been missing for a week said the family feared "for the worst" after they received €5000 ($8800) the father posted before he committed suicide in Italy.

Matthias Schepp threw himself under a train in southeastern Italy last Friday, having failed to return 6-year-olds Alessia and Livia to his estranged wife on January 30 in the village of St-Sulpice, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

"We fear for the worst but so long as there is no proof we remain hopeful, even if it's slender," Valerio Lucidi said.

"[The money] worries us because the theory that he might have paid someone to keep the children doesn't hold any more."