Former mafia godfather shot dead on French highway 10 years after his brother mysteriously vanished

A former local mafia boss died Wednesday after he was shot in his car in the middle of a busy highway near the French city of Grenoble, local authorities and sources close to the case told French news agency AFP.

Jean-Pierre Maldera, 71, died of his wounds after the shootout Wednesday morning, the civil defense and the regional prosecutor's office said.

Maldera was one of the so-called godfathers of the Franco-Italian mafia that terrorized the southeastern city in the 1980s, along with his brother Robert, a source close to the case told AFP.