The sex of the bones found in the
Vatican's nunciature to Italy on Wednesday, which reopened a
cold case involving two 15-year-old girls who went missing in
1983, will be revealed early next week, perhaps as early as
Monday, sources said Friday.
The date of death and possible DNA identification will take
several more days after that, they said.
A molar has been examined and is probably a wisdom tooth,
sources said.
A breakthrough in the case of Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter
of a Vatican employee, may have arrived after the Vatican
said human bones were found in a basement area linked to its
nunciature to Italy in Rome's Via Po next to the Italian
capital's famous Villa Borghese museum.
The Vatican said it had called in the Italian authorities
after the remains were found during renovation work.
Another possibility is that the bones belong to Mirella
Gregori, another 15-year-old girl who went missing in Rome in
1983, within weeks of Orlandi.
Rome prosecutors have opened a murder probe.
Investigators are comparing the cranium and teeth with the
DNA of Orlandi and Gregori.
It will take "from seven to 10 days" to examine the DNA,
sources told ANSA.
A preliminary examination of pelvic bones found at the
nunciature has confirmed that they belong to a woman's body,
ANSA sources said.
Four workers discovered the bones, judicial sources said
Wednesday.
They reportedly told prosecutors "we were digging, we had
removed the pavement, then we saw the bones and we immediately
raised the alarm", judicial sources said.
Emanuela Orlandi's brother Pietro said "the news should fill
us with joy but if the bones turned out to be Emanuela's it's as
if she died today".
He said "if this is the truth it's important for it to come
out. I want to know why Emanuela was in that place and who
brought her there".
A lawyer representing Orland's family demanded more details
after the discovery of the remains in the nunciature.
"We will ask the Rome prosecutors' office and the Holy See
how the bones were found and why the find has been related to
the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi and Mirella Gregori," said
the lawyer, Laura Sgrò.
"The statement released yesterday by the Holy See does not
provide much information," Sgrò said.
The bones may well belong to two people, well-informed
sources said later Wednesday.
The sources said that workers employed in renovation work at
the site found nearly a whole skeleton and, in another point,
bone fragments.
Manuela Orlandi's father Pietro met with prosecutors later,
Sgrò said.
"There is a preliminary investigation in course and we hope
to have more detailed information in the next few days," the
lawyer said.
Gregori's sister Maria Antonietta told ANSA: "I don't want to
delude myself, I want to stay with my feet on the ground but in
my heart I hope that those bones belong to Mirella, so we can
put an end to this affair and I would have a place to go to
mourn and take a flower to my sister".
She said "the investigators have our DNA, they took it when
some bones were found in the basilica of Sant'Apollinare (Saint
Apollinaire)".
The Orlandi case has spawned several theories over the
years, including that she was murdered to gain traction to have
pope John Paul II's Turkish shooter Mehmet Ali Agca freed, or
that organised crime was involved.
Ali Agca was questioned in the case.
In 2016 investigations into the case were shelved.
Six people including a priest were implicated in the
investigations on suspicion of complicity in abduction and
murder.
All but one had links with the Banda della Magliana, a
now-defunct crime gang based in Rome.
In September last year the Vatican described as "false and
ridiculous" reports that the Vatican had spend large amounts of
money on the case.
In an article published by La Repubblica, Italian
investigative reporter Emiliano Fittipaldi wrote about a leaked
document that allegedly showed the Vatican spent over 483
million lira, around 250,000 euros, on the case between 1983 and
1997.
In the piece, Fittipaldi reported money went to a pensioner
in London and medical expenses in the British capital.
Fittipaldi has written books in the past with revelations
linked to the two VatiLeaks scandals featuring embarrassing
leaks of confidential documents.
In 2016 Italian film director Roberto Faenza said his latest
movie "The Truth is in the Sky" was aimed at encouraging
authorities to reopen the Orlandi case.
The film, inspired by Vito Bruschini's "The Truth on the
Orlandi Case" book, tells the story of an English TV station
which sends a journalist to Rome to investigate the origins of
the Mafia Capitale scandal involving city authorities' links to
criminal organisations.
"The Truth is in the Sky" is a phrase that Pope Francis
said when he met Orlandi's family in the Vatican, Faenza said,
adding that in fact he believes the truth is on earth and his
film is aimed at encouraging investigators to keep pursuing it.
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