VATICAN CITY — A lawyer for the family of a Vatican City teenager who vanished in 1983 says that no remains have been found in tombs opened near St. Peter’s Basilica.
Laura Sgro told reporters Wednesday, shortly after the pair of graves in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery were opened at Emanuela Orlandi’s family’s request, that “the tombs are empty. We’re all amazed.”
Sgro had received an anonymous letter suggesting that the girl’s remains might be in one of the tombs. Orlandi was 15 when she disappeared after leaving her family’s Vatican City apartment for a music lesson in Rome. Her fate has been one of Italy’s most persistent mysteries.
The Vatican has said two princesses in 1836 and 1840 were buried in the two tombs. It was unclear why the tombs were empty.
The Associated Press
