The four-part series explores the disappearance of a Vatican official, who has since been missing for 37 years. And after all these years, no one seems to know what truly happened to Emanuela Orlandi. Here’s what you need to know about this docu-series:
Is Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi Based on a True Story?
Unfortunately, it is. The series is based on an unsolved missing-person case that continues to leave Italians bewildered over the (then) 15-year-old’s disappearance. Adding to the fact that her remains have never been found, many continue to wonder where Orlandi could have gone all these years.
Who Was Emanuela Orlandi?
Emanuela was only 15 years old when she was reported missing by her parents. She was the daughter of Ercole Orlandi, who worked as an envoy of the Prefecture of the Pontifical House. Emanuela was reported missing on June 22, 1983 after leaving home for a music lesson. Later that day, her mother received a call from Emanuela who said she had been approached and invited to join the cosmetic business, Avon. Her sister told her to return home and talk about this decision with her parents but she never showed up. After failing to return home, her family filed a missing person complaint. They also put up posters, which led to numerous calls of her possible location. While most calls were false, one phone call stood out.
Conspiracy #1: “The American”
A man phoned the family and introduced himself as Pierluigi. Similar to Emanuela’s earlier call, Pierluigi said he met a girl called Barbara near the music school. She was selling Avon cosmetics. A second caller, named Mario, echoed this statement and said that the girl regretted not being able to perform at her school’s event. This was significant to the case because Emanuela was supposed to perform during that time. Later on, the Pope addressed the family and extended his support. He also condemned the kidnapping, which grabbed public attention. People were surprised with the Pope’s cryptic message since he seemed sure Emanuel was kidnapped. He even addressed the kidnappers to return her.
After the Pope’s cryptic message, the family received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as “The American.” He played a recording of Emanuela’s voice, whom the family recognized right away. The American said that the two previous callers, Pierluigi and Mario, were his teammates. They demanded the Italian authorities to free Mehmet Ali Acga by July 20, 1983. Otherwise, they would kill Emanuela. A conspiracy theory revealed the identity of “The American” to be Marco Acceti, who said members of the Vatican kidnapped the young girl. The group was composed of priests who secretly functioned against the Pope’s methods of dealing with the East. Acceti also said that he kidnapped another Italian girl named Mirella Gregori as a way of pressuring both Italian authorities and the Vatican to cooperate. When they did not get their desired response, the operation came to an end. Acceti said the last time he saw Emanuela, she was alive. Unfortunately, Acceti’s claim is disputable. Even though he claimed to be “The American,” there were details he did not know and could have learned from TV. His psychiatric report also revealed he had autocalunnia.
Conspiracy #2: Enrico De Padis And The Mafia
In 2004, a new witness pointed to known gangster Enrico De Padis and a favor Renatino asked in behalf of Cardinal Polleti. Since De Padis died in 1990, his girlfriend, Sabrina Minardi, was questioned and indeed remembered Emanuela as the girl De Padis asked to bring to her house in Torvaianica. Throughout the 10 days that she was there, Emanuela was mostly drugged. Minardi remembered Emanuela moaning and crying in pain until she was asked to drop her off at a Vatican petrol pump. A man dressed as a priest got down from a black Mercedes with a Vatican number plate and took Emanuela from her. When Minardi later asked De Padis about it, he said that it had all to do with power.
Maurizo Abbatino, a head of Banda Della Magliana, seemed to echo this statement of Minardi’s. He believed De Padis was the middleman and that the Mafia gave money that ended up in Vatican banks, which then went to shell companies. The chain was cut when the Bank of Ambrosiano had an immense loss and the Mafia murdered its owner, Roberto Calvi. Emanuela’s kidnapping seemed to be a way for the Mafia to send a message to the Vatican.
Conspiracy #3: Emanuela’s Friend
While the two conspiracy theories ended up as dead ends, there is a third conspiracy theory after Emanuela’s friend was interviewed. The (now) middle-aged woman revealed that before Emanuela disappeared, she had confided in her. Emanuela shared that she was sexually molested by “someone close to the pope.” The childhood friend explained that she never told anyone this revelation because she had long been afraid of the consequences. After multiple investigations (and several conspiracy theories), the case was closed in 2016.
Did They Ever Find Emanuela Orlandi?
Even until today, the Orlandi family remain dumbfounded as to what truly happened to Emanuela. In 2019, the family received a tip that her remains may be in a Vatican cemetery. The family’s request was approved and the Vatican opened a couple of tombs that were believed to be Princess Sophie of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein and Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. These tombs were empty of human remains. A couple ossuaries containing bones and bone fragments were found nearby. Sadly, these bones were deemed too old to be Orlandi’s. The investigation was declared close by The Holy See press office in April 2020. Mark Lewis says that the mystery of Emanuela’s disappearance remains unsolved to this day. In an interview with Variety, Lewis said: “It’s a story that Dan Brown could have written. It starts with a small local story of a young girl going missing on a hot summer afternoon in the middle of Rome in 1983, and then the story spirals into one involving the KGB and Cold War politics.
“We discover factions working within the Vatican to push particular policies and to restore Catholicism to the Eastern Bloc. Then there is the Mafia and the Roman underworld side of the story. So, it instinctively felt like a political thriller, and that really appealed to me. “The way I see it is we have got a table, and over the years, we’ve been laying down big pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on that table. Slowly but surely, that puzzle is getting filled in. But there’s a few key pieces of the puzzle still missing. I hope, for the family’s sake, those last few pieces are found."
Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi Trailer
You can take a look at the trailer of the docu-series here:
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