Italian officials, investigating girl's disappearance, plan to open gangster's tomb

April 25, 2012

Italian officials plan to open the tomb of a notorious organized-crime boss, hoping that it might yield information about the fate of a 15-year-old girl who disappeared in 1983.

The unresolved disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, has been the subject of many speculative theories, including some that allege a connection with Vatican involvement in the Italian banking scandals of that era. One anonymous witness has told prosecutors that evidence about the girl’s death could be found in the tomb of Enrico De Pedis, a leading figure in organized crime in Rome, who is buried in the basilica of Sant’Apollinaire.

Authorities plan to open the tomb when it is moved from the a basilica to a new gravesite in a cemetery outside Rome. The fact that a notorious criminal figure is buried in a Roman basilica has prompted many questions and complaints.

 

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Further information:

• Italy to crack open mobster’s tomb in bowels of Rome church as part of search for missing girl (National Post)
• Vatican tomb of mafia don to be reopened over teen murder mystery (Daily Telegraph)
• Papal spokesman says Vatican knows nothing about mysterious 1983 kidnapping (CWN, 4/16)