Was missing ‘Vatican Girl’ a victim of her UNCLE? Mystery of 15-year-old’s disappearance deepens

Italian authorities are investigating the possible involvement of an uncle in the disappearance of a schoolgirl who ‘disappeared’ 40 years ago.

Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee, was last seen leaving a music class in Rome on June 22, 1983.

Her disappearance had been linked to everything from a mafia kidnapping to an attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II and a financial scandal involving the Vatican bank.

But prosecutors are now investigating the possible involvement of her uncle Mario Meneguzzi, who allegedly sexually assaulted her older sister following a tip from the Vatican, according to Italian media.

It comes after the city-state passed its files to Rome in June, saying they “contain some lines of inquiry worthy of further investigation.”

But Rome prosecutors are now investigating the possible involvement of her uncle Mario Meneguzzi who allegedly sexually assaulted her older sister.

The files include a letter in which a priest told the Vatican secretary of state that Orlandi’s older sister Natalina revealed during the confession that her uncle, Mario Meneguzzi, had sexually assaulted her, according to Italian television channel La 7.

But Orlandi’s brother Pietro, who has campaigned for the truth for years and believes the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela, reacted angrily to the La 7 report.

He told AdnKronos news agency: “They can’t blame everything on the family. I’m furious” and claimed the authorities had “overstepped the mark” by blaming his uncle.

Meanwhile, Natalina told a press conference on Tuesday that although her uncle had made advances towards her, he quit after being rejected. “There was no rape,” she said.

Orlandi said his uncle’s alibi – that he was vacationing far from Rome at the time – had been established and verified.

“The Vatican is trying to deny any responsibility,” he said, reiterating his call for a parliamentary commission to be set up.

Her disappearance had been linked to everything from a mafia kidnapping to an attempt on the life of Pope John II and a financial scandal involving the Vatican bank.

But Orlandi’s brother Pietro, who has campaigned for the truth for years and believes the Vatican knows what happened to Emanuela, reacted angrily to the La 7 report.

Meneguzzi, who died several years ago, looked remarkably like a drawing of a man talking to Emanuela on the street after her music lesson, La 7 said.

He also played a key role in the months following her disappearance, answering the alleged kidnappers’ calls, the report said.

Meneguzzi had ties to the Secret Service and managed to get it to pay for a family lawyer, La 7 added.

During the first, short investigation into him, he was also warned by the service that he was being followed by the police, according to the OM.

Meneguzzi told investigators at the time that on the day the teenager disappeared from Rome, he was in the village of Torano with several relatives, including Emanuela’s father Ercole, according to the Open online newspaper.

But Ercole Orlandi told investigators on several occasions that he was not in Torano that day, but in Fiumicino, west of Rome, Open said.

Corriere della Sera investigative reporter Fabrizio Peronaci said on Tuesday he had also discovered information that the kidnappers had insisted from the start that Meneguzzi be their point of contact for the ransom negotiations.

A poster announcing the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee

The Vatican has been accused of obstructing investigative efforts over the decades, but finally launched an investigation into its most famous cold case in January. Prosecutors in Rome then opened their own new investigation in May — the third to date.

In July 2019, the graves of two princesses in the Vatican’s German German Cemetery, opened in a search for Orlandi’s body, were found empty.

In late November 2018, Rome prosecutors said bones found in an appendix to the Vatican nunciature in Italy do not belong to Orlandi or another girl, Mirella Gregori, who disappeared a month before Orlandi disappeared.

The twists and turns of the case were documented in a 2022 Netflix TV series called Vatican Girl, though Meneguzzi was not looked at.

In the documentary, a friend claimed the teen confided the week before her disappearance that she had been harassed in the Vatican gardens by a figure close to Pope John Paul II.

Another claim often repeated in Italian media was that she was taken to force the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.