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Disappeared after a music lesson in the old town of Rome: Emanuela Orlandi
Photo: Stf/ dpa
Almost 40 years after the mysterious disappearance of a 15-year-old girl in the Vatican, the mini-state's judiciary has opened a new investigation.
The prosecutors want to investigate the suspicion and the indications that Emanuela Orlandi, a citizen of the Vatican and the daughter of an employee there, could have been kidnapped or murdered.
The teenager had not returned home on June 22, 1983 after a music lesson in Rome's old town.
A body was never found.
rumors and theories
On Monday evening, investigations from the Vatican were confirmed after the Italian news agency Adnkronos reported on the new development.
"This is good news," said Pietro Orlandi, the brother of the disappeared, to the newspaper "La Stampa".
"I am convinced that there are many people in the Vatican, including those in high positions, who know what happened at the time."
There have been many rumors and theories about the case over the past four decades: for example, that Orlandi was kidnapped to free the Pope's assassin Ali Agca, that the young woman was abused by a high official or that the Roman mafia clan Banda della Magliana is entangled in the case.
The missing person case had recently become known internationally through its own Netflix series (“Vatican Girl”), which shows various scenarios and suspicious elements relating to the Orlandi case.
As the Vatican announced, the main prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, now wants to re-examine all the evidence and documents from back then and hear witnesses, including cardinals.
At the end of 2015, the public prosecutor's office in Rome archived the case.
Orlandi's relatives then turned to the Vatican and directly to Pope Francis.
Observers speculate that the pontiff himself may have put the pressure on recently.
swe/dpa
