Vatican Reopens Investigation Into 1983 Disappearance Of Teen After Netflix Series Draws Attention

Topline

The Vatican announced Monday it will reopen its investigation into the 1983 disappearance of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, months after a Netflix series detailing the case sparked new interest in the unsolved decades-old case.

Key Facts

Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi will open fresh inquiries into the case because of “requests made by the family in various places,” according to Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Laura Sgro, a lawyer representing the Orlandi family, told the Associated Press that she had yet to receive confirmation of the Vatican’s decision, though Orlandi’s brother called the decision to reopen the case a “positive step.”

Last month, Italian lawmakers, with the support of Orlandi’s brother, Pietro, requested an inquiry into the Vatican’s investigation of Orlandi’s disappearance in addition to the disappearance of 15-year-old Mirella Gregori, who vanished the same summer.

Surprising Fact

The last development in the case came in 2019, when two tombs in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery were opened in a search for Orlandi’s body, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Key Background

Orlandi was first reported missing after she failed to return home from a flute lesson in Rome on June 22, 1983. Orlandi’s father, Ercole, was a lay employee for the Vatican, and the family lived inside Vatican City. The four-decades-old case has drawn several conspiracy theories over the years, with some suggesting–without definitive evidence–Orlandi was murdered to have Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish assassin who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, released from prison. Several burial sites have been exhumed in the search for Orlandi, including the tomb of a former Italian gang member in 2012, according to the New York Times.

Tangent

Vatican Girl, a four-part Netflix documentary released in October, brought new attention to Orlandi’s disappearance. The series explored scenarios some have connected to the case, in addition to new testimony that indicated a high-ranking Vatican cleric made sexual advances toward Orlandi the week before her disappearance.

Further Reading

Vatican Reopens Investigation Into Teen’s 1983 Disappearance (AP)

Bones Are Found In Rome, Renewing Speculation In 1983 Disappearance (New York Times)