Investigators are reopening the case
Mystery of missing Vatican girl
Suddenly the daughter of a Vatican employee was gone. The case remains unsolved to this day. Now, almost 40 years later, the investigations are resumed.
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On June 22, 1983, 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi had not returned from music lessons in Rome.
Almost 40 years after the disappearance of the daughter of a Vatican employee, the Vatican is launching a new investigation. Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi is also complying with a request from the girl’s family, a spokesman said on Tuesday. On June 22, 1983, 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi had not returned from music lessons in Rome. The case is considered one of the greatest mysteries in recent Italian criminal history.
The Vatican initially gave no information on the basis on which the new investigations were initiated. According to their lawyer, the Orlandi family was not initially informed of the details either. “We don’t know what the Vatican will do,” said attorney Laura Sgro. She has therefore not yet found out whether the Vatican wants to re-evaluate the old investigation files of the Roman public prosecutor’s office or whether it is following its own tracks.
Suspected connection to assassination attempt on Pope
New speculations arose about Orlandi’s disappearance, in which the Vatican also played a role. According to a popular theory, the girl was kidnapped by a gang intent on blackmailing the then head of the Vatican Bank. According to another unproven theory, Emanuela was kidnapped to free Mehmet Ali Agca (65), who had assassinated Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) in 1981.
In 2019, the Vatican opened two leg cellars in search of the remains of the disappeared. According to the investigators, only old bones were found in it. Other traces followed did not lead to a result either. Last year, the Netflix documentary series “Vatican Girl” dealt with the mysterious case. (AFP/jmh)