(CNN) — The Vatican has opened a new investigation into the disappearance of the 15-year-old daughter of one of its employees in 1983.
The case of Emanuela Orlandi has been the subject of intense public scrutiny in recent months following the release of a Netflix documentary series titled “Vatican Girl” (The girl from the Vatican).
Orlandi, who was the daughter of a prominent Vatican employee and lived within the walls of the holy city, disappeared in the summer of 1983 on her way home from a music lesson in central Rome.
This Monday, the Vatican confirmed in a statement that Alessandro Diddi, the promoter of Vatican Justice, will open a new investigation into the case.
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said that the opening of the case was “also in response to various requests made by the family.”
Orlandi disappeared on June 22, 1983 following a lesson at a music school adjacent to the Sant’Apollinare Opus Deim Catholic church near Piazza Navona in Rome.
His father, Ercole Orlandi, who died in 2004, worked for the Institute for Religious Works of the Holy See. Her mother, Maria Orlandi, still lives in the family apartment inside Vatican City. His brother, Pietro Orlandi, has spent his entire life trying to find out what happened to his sister and has often blamed the Vatican for withholding information.
Launched last year, the four-part Netflix series by Mark Lewis highlighted several of the most prominent conspiracy theories, including the idea that his kidnapping was linked to Mehmet Ali Agca, who was in prison at the time for an attempted hijacking. assassination of John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square in 1981.
Orlandi’s disappearance has also been linked to the criminal gang Banda della Magliana, whose leader, Enrico de Pedis, was buried inside the church of Sant’Apollinare until the Vatican exhumed his bones in 2012 at the request of the girl’s family. , which he thought might be buried with him. Then, in 2012, the Vatican’s top exorcist, Gabriele Amorth, claimed that Orlandi was kidnapped by Vatican Police as part of a sex ring.
In 2018, human remains were found at the Holy See embassy in Italy, and they were unsuccessfully tested to detect any DNA matches with the missing girl.
One year later, the Vatican agreed to open the tomb of two princesses thought to be buried in the cemetery of the Pontifical Teutonic College, inside Vatican City. The remains of the princesses were not found in the tomb, nor were those of Orlandi, but two ossuaries were found under a secret door in the cemetery.
Lewis interviewed Orlandi’s mother and sisters, who had never been interviewed before, as well as the Italian Police chief investigator at the time. He used the old missing persons poster design with Orlandi’s photo as the lead ad for the series, bringing new attention to the case.
Orlandi’s brother, Pietro, confirmed to CNN that he organized a sit-in in Saint Peter’s Square to commemorate his birthday, on January 14. Lewis confirmed to CNN that several fans of the Netflix series are expected to attend.
