Bone fragments found at Vatican could solve 35-year-old mystery

Bone fragments found at Vatican could solve 35-year-old mystery
UPI

Oct. 31 (UPI) — Officials say human bone fragments have been found at the Vatican during digging for a construction project, which has revived two cold murder cases.

DNA tests will be done to see if the remains could belong to 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi or Mirella Gregori, who both disappeared in 1983.

Rome Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Pighatone directed the Scientific Police to determine the age and gender of the victim and how long the bones have been there.

The skeletal remains were found Tuesday during renovations of a building attached to the Vatican’s Italian embassy. Officials said the remains consist of bone from the head and teeth.

Orlandi’s father worked for the Institute for the Works of Religion, also known as the Vatican Bank. Her body was never found.

The girl disappeared after leaving her Vatican City home to attend a music lesson. Her disappearance has been linked to various conspiracy theories, including organized crime and the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

In 2012, police exhumed the body of a reputed mobster from a crypt at the Roman Basilica. They found no signs of her body there.

More recently, an investigative journalist published a five-page document that he said links the Holy See to Orlandi’s death. It was written by a cardinal and listed expenses for Orlandi’s care after she disappeared. The Vatican said it was a fake.

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