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Search for Girl Missing for Three Decades Leads to Empty Vatican Tombs Search for Girl Missing for Three Decades Leads to Empty Vatican Tombs
(about 1 hour later)
ROME — The disappearance 36 years ago of a Vatican City employee’s teenage daughter, who vanished off a Rome street after attending a music lesson, has given rise to one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries, fueled by false leads, red herrings and continual media attention.ROME — The disappearance 36 years ago of a Vatican City employee’s teenage daughter, who vanished off a Rome street after attending a music lesson, has given rise to one of Italy’s most enduring mysteries, fueled by false leads, red herrings and continual media attention.
The latest installment of the drawn-out drama came Thursday morning, when, acting on a series of tips to the family, a Vatican-appointed forensic anthropologist exhumed two tombs in a cemetery inside the Vatican walls to analyze their contents.The latest installment of the drawn-out drama came Thursday morning, when, acting on a series of tips to the family, a Vatican-appointed forensic anthropologist exhumed two tombs in a cemetery inside the Vatican walls to analyze their contents.
His team found nothing.His team found nothing.
The quest by the family of the girl — Emanuela Orlandi, who was 15 at the time of her disappearance — has led down various tortuous paths, following tips, anonymous letters and reports of sightings. It was yet another blow to the family of the girl, Emanuela Orlandi, who was 15 at the time of her disappearance. Their quest to discover her fate has taken them down various tortuous paths, following up on tips, anonymous letters and reports of sightings.
“Every tip could be the real thing, so I’ve had to verify them all,” Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, who has led the family’s decades-long efforts, said on Wednesday. “I couldn’t live with the doubt that I’d missed something.” After the tombs were found empty, Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, who has led the family’s decades-long efforts, told the Italian affiliate of Sky News that “part of me was relieved that Emanuela was not there.”
The most recent twist began at the end of 2017, when Mr. Orlandi was approached by the first of several people working inside the Vatican who suggested that Emanuela might be buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, which for centuries was a final resting place for people of Germanic origin. Mr. Orlandi added in a separate interview on Thursday that his family had become used to “illusions and disillusions,” and that they had known that the exhumation could have been a further waste of time. “Still,” he said, “I was surprised that there was nothing at all.”
The most recent twist in the family’s search began at the end of 2017, when Mr. Orlandi was approached by the first of several people working inside the Vatican who suggested that Emanuela might be buried in the Teutonic Cemetery, which for centuries was a final resting place for people of Germanic origin.
His sources told him to seek the place in the cemetery, which is between St. Peter’s Basilica and the Paul VI Audience Hall, where an angel was pointing.His sources told him to seek the place in the cemetery, which is between St. Peter’s Basilica and the Paul VI Audience Hall, where an angel was pointing.
That led Mr. Orlandi to the tomb of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe, who died in the 18th century. Giovanni Arcudi, a professor of forensic medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, began the exhumation of the tomb on Thursday.That led Mr. Orlandi to the tomb of Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe, who died in the 18th century. Giovanni Arcudi, a professor of forensic medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, began the exhumation of the tomb on Thursday.
Mr. Arcudi was authorized by a prosecutor in Vatican City to analyze the contents of the tomb — as well as the adjacent tomb of Princess Carlotta Frederica of Mecklenburg, who died in 1840 — and take samples for DNA testing. The theory was that Emanuela’s body was inside one of the tombs. Mr. Arcudi was authorized by the Vatican’s chief prosecutor to analyze the contents of the tomb — as well as the adjacent tomb of Princess Carlotta Frederica of Mecklenburg, who died in 1840 — and take samples for DNA testing. The theory was that Emanuela’s body was inside one of the tombs.
It was expected that from an initial examination of the bones, he and his collaborators would be able to approximately date them, he said in an interview released by the Vatican on Wednesday. Any hope that the tombs would provide answers to the family were quickly dashed when the Vatican issued a statement hours after the operation began.
“We can distinguish whether the bone has been there 10 years, 50 years or 150 years,” he said, and whether more than one body had been buried in the tomb. He added that DNA testing could be used to try to establish “in a definitive and categorical way” any connection to Emanuela, though those tests would take longer to carry out. “There were no human remains nor funerary urns,” the Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said in the statement.
The Vatican said in a statement that the process began at 8:15 a.m., after a prayer was recited by those present, which include the heirs of the two German princesses. Princess Sophie von Hohenlohe’s tomb led to a large underground space that was “completely empty,” the statement said, while the tomb of Princess Carlotta Frederica of Mecklenburg “had no human remains.”
The Vatican said that its chief prosecutor, Gian Piero Milano, had ordered the opening of both tombs because the two graves were adjacent and similar. “In order to avoid any possible misunderstandings regarding which tomb had been indicated,” the prosecutor “authorized the opening of both,” the Vatican said. The Vatican added that the cemetery had undergone work during the first part of the 19th century, and again in the 1960s and 1970s, and that it would examine the documentation regarding these interventions.
If Emanuela’s remains had been in one of the tombs, one of Italy’s most notorious cold cases could have been closer to being solved. Her fate has been linked to Bulgarian agents, the K.G.B., the Sicilian Mafia, an American archbishop involved in a Vatican bank scandal, to the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II and to Rome’s most nefarious criminal gang. This is not the first exhumation in search of her remains.If Emanuela’s remains had been in one of the tombs, one of Italy’s most notorious cold cases could have been closer to being solved. Her fate has been linked to Bulgarian agents, the K.G.B., the Sicilian Mafia, an American archbishop involved in a Vatican bank scandal, to the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II and to Rome’s most nefarious criminal gang. This is not the first exhumation in search of her remains.
Through the family’s lawyer, Laura Sgro, in February, Mr. Orlandi formally asked the Vatican to open the tomb of Princess Sophie. The family received approval last month to have open both tombs opened. Through the family’s lawyer, Laura Sgro, in February, Mr. Orlandi formally asked the Vatican to open the tomb of Princess Sophie. The family received approval last month to have open both tombs opened. On Thursday, Ms. Sgro said the family was trying to understand why they had been sent on yet another fruitless search.
“We expected everything today, but not to find two empty tombs,” she said on the Italian affiliate of Sky News. “We want to know why we were sent there, and why there was nothing.”
Mr. Orlandi said he had called on the Vatican to investigate after receiving several tips from people working in the Vatican, though none of them were there at the time of his sister’s disappearance.Mr. Orlandi said he had called on the Vatican to investigate after receiving several tips from people working in the Vatican, though none of them were there at the time of his sister’s disappearance.
He said that he had been “positively surprised” by the Vatican’s assistance, and that “for the first time in 36 years, the Vatican has concretely done something important” in the case. He said that he had been “positively surprised” by the Vatican’s assistance. “For the first time in 36 years, the Vatican has concretely done something important” in the case, he said.
Opening the tomb “signals a change of position,” he said, noting that when he met Pope Francis in 2013, the pope told him that his sister was “in heaven” and left it at that.Opening the tomb “signals a change of position,” he said, noting that when he met Pope Francis in 2013, the pope told him that his sister was “in heaven” and left it at that.
Mr. Orlandi said that regardless of the outcome on Thursday, he would continue to pursue justice. “No one will ever be able to silence this story,” he said. Mr. Orlandi said the Vatican’s overture had been important, because after decades of denying any links with the case, there was “an admission that there is a possibility of internal responsibility.”
Now the exhumation has created another mystery. Even the sarcophagus in Princess Charlotte’s tomb was empty, Mr. Orlandi said. “Now, even the heirs don’t know where they’ve gone,” he said. “I think this is a problem for the Vatican that will have to be justified.”