That's what they were told. It was about 11 years ago and she and her girlfriend were just 18. I nearly died when she called me from Rome.
The train people were of no help at all and it makes you think they were part of it. They said sometimes the robbers put it in the air vents at night and knock out a whole car. My daughter and friend were in a little isolated sleeping unit.
I was dumbfounded and told them to find someone in Rome to report it to. They ended up going to the U.S. Embassy but it didn't do much good.
They told them to call the State Department here and register a complaint. The only recourse available for such things is to report so they can tally up incidents that might eventually trigger warnings and deter tourism. I reported it but that was the end of it.
Amazing, huh? I said, "Can you imagine if that happened on an Amtrak train here?" I doubt they would just blow it off like it was no big deal.
I'm glad I didn't know these things before they went or I would have battled to keep her from going and traipsing about Europe.......just two young girls. I still shudder to think of what worse things could have happened.