Vatican to Investigate 1983 Disappearance of Teenage Girl
The Guardian
The Vatican has launched an internal investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl in 1983, in what could be a breakthrough for police investigating one of the country’s darkest mysteries. Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican police officer, was 15 when she was last seen leaving a music class on 22 June 1983. On Wednesday, the Orlandi family’s lawyer said the Vatican had authorised a new investigation. “The time has finally come to reach the truth and give justice to this girl after decades of silence,’’ Laura Sgro told the Guardian. The Vatican said last month that it was considering opening a tomb within its grounds after Sgro received an anonymous tip-off telling her to look inside the marble-topped grave. Sgro was told to “look where the angel is pointing”, prompting her to ask for the opening of the tomb, which lies close to a statue of an angel holding a sheet bearing the words “Rest in peace”. The lawyer said the family had requested an investigation of the tomb after Pope Francis announced the opening of Vatican archives on Pope Pius XII, the controversial wartime pontiff accused of failing to condemn the Holocaust. “Seeing as the pope decided to open the Vatican archives for the pontificate of Pius XII in 2020, we made an appeal to the pontiff,” Sgro said. The Vatican tribunal’s promoter of justice, Gian Piero Milano, confirmed to the Ansa press agency that an investigation had been launched Emanuela’s brother Pietro has led a decades-long campaign to find out what happened to her. “After 35 years without cooperation, the start of an investigation is an important breakthrough,” he told Ansa. The case has been the subject of intense speculation, with rumours that the teenager was kidnapped by an organised crime gang to put pressure on Vatican officials to repay a loan, or that she was abducted to force the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. In October, the spotlight returned to the disappearance of Emanuela, and a second girl, Mirella Gregori, when fragments of human bone were found at the diplomatic office of the Holy See in Rome. Mirella disappeared a few weeks before Emanuela after telling her mother that she had a date. During restoration work at the building, workers reportedly found an almost complete skeleton in one area and bone fragments in another. Initial reports suggested that tests on the remains had shown they were those of a woman. However, three months later, investigators closed the case, saying the remains belonged to a man who died of natural causes between AD90 and AD230. Since you’re here… … we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting our independent, investigative reporting than ever before. And unlike many news organisations, we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our journalism accessible to all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. The Guardian is editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. It’s what makes us different to so many others in the media, at a time when factual, honest reporting is critical. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. This support enables us to keep working as we do – but we must maintain and build on it for every year to come. Support The Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
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