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Could Human Remains Found On Vatican Property Hold Clues To Decades-Old Mystery Of Vanished Teen?
Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori vanished seperately in 1983 at the age of 15. Bone fragments discovered at the Vatican's Italian embassy may provide resolution to one of their families.
Could human remains found on Vatican-owned property in Rome lead to the resolution of a decades-old mystery involving a missing Italian teen?
The discovery of bone fragments by construction workers who were renovating the Vatican’s Italian embassy was announced on Tuesday, raising such a question, according to the Associated Press.
Now, lawyers for the family of Emanuela Orlandi, who went missing on June 22, 1983 at the age of 15, are putting pressure on both the Vatican and Italian prosecutor for more details regarding the bone fragments, UK-based newspaper The Guardian reports.
“We will ask Rome prosecutors and the Holy See how the bones were found and why their discovery has been linked to the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi or Mirella Gregori,” Orlandis’ family lawyer, Laura Sgrò, told the media. “The statement released by the Holy See provides hardly any information.”
Another 15-year-old girl, Mirella Gregori, went missing in the same area on May 7, 1983, and there is also speculation that the bone fragments could belong to her, the Associated Press reports. There is no formal link between the cases of Orlandi and Gregori.
“Above all we need to established the period [of death] before we jump to conclusions,” Greg Burke, the Vatican’s spokesperson, told the Guardian. “The [outcome of the investigation] isn’t anything that will be known in a few days, it will take some time.”
If enough DNA can be extracted from the fragments, tests can be done in as little as 10 days, according to the Associated Press.
[Photo: Associated Press]
