The search for the remains of Emanuela Orlandi, who disappeared in Rome in the 1980s, possibly came to an end Saturday after bones were collected from the depths of the Vatican. This is the latest effort to put to rest the mystery of a 15-year-old girl who simply vanished 36 years ago.
Emanuela Orlandi was the daughter of a member of the Vatican’s police. She was last seen in 1983 leaving a music class. She then went missing from a street in the center of Rome, and the case has gripped Italy for more than 35 years.
Federica, Emanuela’s sister, was at the Vatican when the containers holding the bones were unsealed, along with their lawyer, Laura Sgro, and a forensic expert, Giorgio Portera. They remained at the Vatican for six hours.
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The bones were discovered a week after an anonymous tip suggested officials look for Emanuela’s remains under the statue of an angel pointing to a grave in the tiny Teutonic cemetery inside the Vatican walls.
Authorities pried open the tombs to two 19th century German princesses but found them mysteriously empty of any human remains. After further research, officials from the Vatican realized that in the 1960’s and 1970’s structural work had been done on the cemetery and adjacent college, resulting in the princesses bones being moved. This led to the discovery of a container full of bones under a stone slab near the college.
Pietro, Emanuela’s brother, (who was not at the Vatican at the time), told ABC News that officials had dug up a “large number of diverse bones,“1 that appear to be from dozens of both “adult and non-adult“2 individuals. He said that it could take weeks to identify and sort them all. The family’s forensic expert, Portera, said the bones were all mixed together and piled up inside a cavity. He added:
“..thousands of bones have been found.”
“I can’t say if it’s 1,000 or 2,000, but there are really very many, and so we assume the presence of the remains of a few dozen people. There are long bones, small bones, many are fragmented.”1
“We didn’t expect such an enormous number of bones and other remains which “had been thrown into a cavity. We want to know why and how the bones ended up there.”2
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Frederica Orlandi said of the discovery:
“Obviously it’s an emotional experience because I think my sister’s bones could be there, but I won’t think about it until we have the results.”1
Alessandro Gisotti, spokeswoman for the Vatican, released a statement Saturday saying that said a team, which included Portera and Vatican staff, (and the Vatican’s own forensic expert, Giovanni Arcudi), gave the bones an initial examination that followed “international protocols.” She said:
Further evaluations of the remains would be carried out next week with “an in-depth morphological analysis,’’ citing the Vatican’s promoter of justice.1
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There are several theories about what may have happened to the missing teenager. Some believe she was abducted and offered in exchange for the freedom of Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk jailed for attempting to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. Others claim she was taken by mobsters to pressure the Vatican to recover a loan.
One conspiracy theory speculated that crime boss Enrico De Pedis was involved in her kidnapping, and that the teen may have been buried alongside him in a Rome basilica. His tomb was opened in 2012 but DNA tests turned up no new clues.
The Vatican insists it has provided support to the Orlandi family over the years, and has consistently denied that it has information on Emanuela’s disappearance. It says the decision to follow the latest tip received by the family proves their willingness to help them.
Meanwhile, supporters of the girl’s family lined the fence of one of the Vatican gates. Supporter Cinzia di Florio feels that the Vatican, despite its claims otherwise, is not doing enough to solve the mystery, telling ABC News:
“There is always a mystery behind a missing person, but here we have the Vatican behind this mystery and that is a bit more significant.”1
We tend to agree.
