VANISHINGS
END OF THE LINE FOR ORLANDI INVESTIGATION
The mystery of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance in June 1983 has horrified and intrigued Italy for decades. Emanuela was the fourth of five children, her father an employee of theVatican Bank or of the papal household, according to differing reports. The family lived insideVatican City and the children were free to roam the Vatican gardens.
After Emanuela’s disappearance, the Orlandi family received a series of phonecalls claiming she had been kidnapped by a terrorist group demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II two years before (see FT312:4, 355:22-23). Another theory involved the Banda della Magliana, a Mafia-like organised crime network based
