Ludovica Piscicelli: Tributes flow for much-loved Denmark resident and Italian expat killed in Bornholm crash

The young woman killed in a road crash in Bornholm on her way to work at a dairy farm is being remembered as a vivacious and adventurous soul who had found her “piece of paradise” in Denmark. Family and friends have given loving tributes for Ludovica Piscicelli, affectionately known as Ludo or Pisi, who was enjoying a full life in Denmark when tragedy struck. Ludovica was 34 when she was killed in a crash on Lower Denmark Road on April 10 about 4.10am on her way to work at the dairy farm, five days before her 35th birthday. The ambitious young woman was living and working in the Great Southern, having moved to WA from Italy last year. Ludovica was born in Italy, near a town called Casalbordino, and studied pharmaceutical chemistry at Bologna University. She was an outstanding student, receiving her undergraduate degree to become a chemist, working in the pharmaceutical industry. Ludovica came to WA in January 2024 on a working visa, where she reconnected with her family in Perth, including her great aunt and her uncle Tony Guerrini. Mr Guerrini recalled meeting Ludovica after not seeing her in person for more than a decade, saying they had an instant connection, the kind that comes from feeling longstanding family bonds rekindled. He was amazed at how confident and capable Ludovica was as a stranger in a new country. It was Mr Guerrini that planted the idea for Ludovica to explore the Kimberley, as she completed hospitality work to fulfil requirements for her work visa in Australia, an idea that Ludovica jumped at. She lived in Kununurra for three months, working in the Wild Mango Cafe in the middle of the town, but Ludovica was an ocean-lover at heart, and while she loved the Kimberley lifestyle, her real desire was to make her way to the State’s south. Mr Guerrini said she had a clear idea of where she was headed, and Denmark was at the top of her list. Once in Denmark, Ludovica got a job at the Ocean Beach Caravan Park, where she made quick friendships with her co-workers and others in the community who shared her passion for surfing, cycling, camping and exploring the beaches and forests that make up the wilderness near Denmark. Mr Guerrini said he was not surprised she fit into the tight-knit community so easily. “She was the sort of person that people just gravitated to straight away,” he said. “You couldn’t walk away from her without feeling energised and happy, she was just that sort of person.” Ludovica lived initially in her car and then a tent for months in the staff-reserved camping space at Ocean Beach, and could often be seen in the surf or out on the bike trails in the early mornings before work. She also worked in Bar Tarifa, forming a close bond with the restaurant’s owner Yolanda and her niece Ainoa. She then started work at Castelli Estate and then a dairy farm on Lower Denmark Road to fulfil the regional farm work required by her visa. Her parents, Antinoro and Paola, wrote about their daughter with heartfelt grief after her passing, remembering their daughter as a young woman who was “kind, warm and full of light”. Her closest family members flew from Italy to attend her funeral at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle on May 5, then journeyed to Denmark to meet Ludovica’s friends and see the place she had come to love and call home. A memorial now stands at the Ocean Beach Caravan Park where she camped when she first arrived in town. It is small but bright, the careful, thoughtful work of friends: a surfboard decorated with Ludovica’s portrait, planted upright in a garden surrounded by rocks and flowers. Her Italian family and Denmark friends took the four-wheel-drive track to Back Beach, one of her favourite surf spots, to scatter her ashes into the ocean. It’s a part of Ludovica left behind in the Great Southern forever. Her family held a memorial service after their return to Italy in Casalbordino, in the church of Madonna dei Miracoli — a final goodbye for a vivacious young woman gone too soon. Ludovica’s parents have a clear message for the community that getting behind the wheel places serious responsibility on both driver and passengers. They said they want people to remember that their choices and actions when they get in a car can have irreparable consequences, both on their lives and the lives of others. Jesse Daniel McLennan has been charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08g or above in relation to the crash. The Little Grove man has not yet formally entered pleas, but has indicated a guilty plea to the drink-driving charge. The 27-year-old will next appear in Albany Magistrates Court on September 11 for a committal mention date.