Emanuela Orlandi: could Vatican tomb search solve 36-year-old cold case?
The missing schoolgirl’s family requested the tombs be searched after receiving an anonymous tip-off
The Vatican has agreed to open two tombs at a cemetery on its grounds in a bid to help solve the case of a 15-year-old girl who vanished in 1983.
Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, disappeared after leaving a music lesson in Rome 36 years ago. Now, following a request by her family, DNA tests are to be carried out on bones exhumed from the graves at the Teutonic Cemetery.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, Emanuela’s family petitioned the Vatican in response to an anonymous letter sent to their lawyer last year that advised to "seek where the angel indicates”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
An accompanying photograph showed a centuries-old stone statue of an angel that points to the two tombs at the Vatican burial site, which sits adjacent to Saint Peter’s Basilica and is reserved principally for German-speaking religious figures.
A Vatican spokesperson said the graves will be opened on 11 July.
The Washington Times reports that members of Orlandi’s family, their lawyers and legal representatives for the Holy See will be present, along with relatives of the people known to be buried in the tombs.
Emanuela’s mother and brother, who still live in the tiny city state, have made repeated pleas over the years for the inquiry into her disappearance to be reopened.
Pietro Orlandi told ANSA that “after 35 years of lack of cooperation”, the renewed efforts to find his sister mark an “important breakthrough”.
As Catholic news site The Tablet notes, the Vatican has no jurisdiction to investigate her disappearance, because it happened in Italian territory.
“Therefore, the Vatican initiative concerns only the verification of the possible burial of the body of Emanuela Orlandi in the territory of the Vatican State,” the Holy See said in a statement.
Investigators will then oversee scientific analysis and DNA tests to date and identify the exhumed remains.
The Orlandi case has captured the imagination of Italians for decades and spawned numerous conspiracy theories.
Sky News, reports that many Italians “believe the teenager was murdered, possibly in connection to financial scandals surrounding the Catholic church in the early 1980s”.
CNN says that a “top Vatican exorcist”, Reverend Gabriele Amorth, claimed in 2012 that Emanuela might have been abducted for sexual reasons, adding: “The investigation should be carried out inside the Vatican and not outside.”
In 2005, an anonymous tip-off suggested that her disappearance was linked to the the grave of Enrico De Pedis, a mobster buried in a Rome basilica, adds Reuters. However, police failed to find any clues after opening his tomb seven years later.
Conspiracy theorists have also claimed that Emanuela was kidnapped to secure the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981.
Last year, the discovery of bone fragments during construction work at the Vatican’s Embassy to Italy sparked renewed interest in the case, amid speculation that they might be those of the missing girl.
However, analysis revealed that the remains dated back to between AD90 and AD230 and came from a man, says The Guardian.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Tattoo prediction
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Tuscany's idyllic island prison with a waiting list
Under the Radar Europe's last island prison houses 90 inmates and makes wine that sells for $100 a bottle
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
Iwao Hakamada: Japan's record-breaking death row prisoner
Under the Radar Former boxer spent 46 years condemned to execution but his retrial could clear his name
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How strawberries are funding crime in Sweden
Under the Radar Police say illegal fruit sales turn over 'billions' of kronor a year for gangsters
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
France's 'swinger' capital rocked by fortune teller scandal
Under the Radar Mayor charged with corruption for 'lavishing' taxpayers' money on clairvoyant who 'impersonated' his dead father
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Trump hush money trial: what has the jury heard?
Today's Big Question Former loyal fixer Michael Cohen proves star witness for prosecution, but Stormy Daniels's graphic testimony could offer grounds for appeal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Italian mafia: why is murder and extortion going out of fashion?
Today's Big Question Move into tax evasion and money laundering means organised crime has 'not diminished but evolved', warns prosecutor
By The Week UK Published
-
Weinstein's appeal: a blow to #MeToo
Talking Point Is 'shocking' reversal of symbolic conviction a sign of weakening movement?
By The Week UK Published
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published