Case overview
Emanuela Orlandi (born 14 January 1968) was a Vatican teenager who mysteriously disappeared while returning home from music school in Rome on 22 June 1983. However, the subsequent investigation discovered that the allegation of international terrorism was a misdirection, and the real motive of the disappearance remains unknown. [1]
The case received worldwide attention due to the public appeal of Pope John Paul II for her release after an unnamed terrorist organisation claimed to be holding the girl in exchange for the liberation of Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish terrorist who had attempted to assassinate the Pope two years prior. Over the years, questions were raised as to why the Vatican never opened an official investigation into Orlandi's disappearance, even though she was a Vatican citizen. The case was the subject of two judicial investigations, the first between 1983 and 1997, the second between 2008 and 2015, both closed without finding a solution. [2]
