A WOMAN who vanished in Italy last month has been found brutally decapitated – after weeks of national concern over her disappearance.

The body of Denisa Maria Adas Paun, 30, was discovered on Wednesday in a suitcase among brambles, her head found separately miles away in a field.

Adas was a Romanian national who lived in Italy’s capital of Rome and worked as an escort, according to the prosecutor’s office.

She disappeared on May 15 from the Tuscan town of Prato, where she is said to have travelled for work.

Vasile Frumuzache, a Romanian-born 32-year-old security guard, reportedly confessed to the horrific crime.

Frumuzache was charged with murder and concealment of a corpse.

The married father-of-two claimed to police that Adas threatened to tell his wife of their relationship unless he gave her €10,000 (£8,417).

“That’s why I killed her,” he allegedly told police.

Frumuzache strangled her, then used a knife to decapitate her before placing the body in a rubbish bag and stuffing it into a suitcase, Italian news outlet Corriere Fiorentino reports.

The next day, he reportedly set fire to her head in a garden using gasoline.

Adas gave her mother a call on May 15 during which she “seemed calm”.

“Hi Mum, I’m fine, see you at home on Saturday,” she said.

But shortly after the call, both of Adas’ phones were switched off – a detail her family called deeply suspicious.

Her mother soon went to police in Rome to report her missing.

At first, investigators suspected she had left voluntarily – her phones, purse, car keys, two suitcases and the blanket she never travelled without were all missing.

Her loved ones, however, were convinced something sinister had happened.

A few days before her disappearance, Adas told a friend: “I’m afraid I’m going to be killed,” local media report.

Detectives say Frumuzache entered the property where Adas was staying at 10.50pm on May 15, carrying a holdall.

Shortly after 1am, he was seen leaving with the suitcase that she had brought with her from her home in Rome.

It is believed her body was inside the suitcase.

Detectives traced his journey to the spot where the body was found using GPS data from a tracker fitted to his car for insurance purposes.

Adas’ body was discovered near an abandoned farmhouse in a rural part of Montecatini Terme, near Florence – around a half-hour drive from Prato.

Her head was only found after Frumuzache disclosed its location during police questioning.

Adas is believed to have been suffocated.

A post-mortem is expected to confirm the exact cause of death.