The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi Pt. 1

In this part 1 episode of The Compendium, we unravel the mystery of the strange and mysterious disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi. Todays story takes us into the heart of Vatican City, where 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi disappeared without a trace. Todays story intertwines with chilling secrets of the Catholic Church, the Fatima prophecy, and the shadowy connections between Pope John Paul II, international terrorist, the KGB and the italian Mafia. From whispers of corruption to unspoken truths, this is a story of betrayal, power, and unanswered questions that continues to haunt the Vatican to this day.

We give you The Compendium, but if you want more, then check out these great resources:

1. The Vatican Girl [2022] - Netflix Documentary
2. Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi - Wikipedia
3. God’s Banker: The Life and Death of Roberto Calvi - by Rupert Cornwell
4. Three Secrets of Fátima - Wikipedia
5. Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II - Wikipedia
6. Who killed Robert Calvi, Gods banker? - the Gaurdian

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• About: Kyle and Adam are more than just your hosts, they’re your close friends sharing intriguing stories from tales from the darker corners of true crime, the annals of your forgotten history books, and the who's who of incredible people.
• Intro Music: Alice in dark Wonderland by Aleksey Chistilin

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Chapters

• 0:00 Sneak peak
• 1:04 Welcome to The Compendium
• 3:24 Topic of the week
• 1:00:38 Outro

Transcript

[00:00:00] Kyle Risi: he was found dangling with an orange rope around his neck, five heavy stones tucked into his pockets, and around 16, 000 in various currencies stuffed in his clothing, including dollars, liras, pounds, Austrian shillings, etc.

[00:00:16] Adam Cox: Okay, to show that he's obviously dealing with all this money, a bit dodgy, is that why

[00:00:20] Kyle Risi: it sounds very symbolic, doesn't it? 

[00:00:22] Adam Cox: Yeah. If he was feeling suicidal, I don't quite understand why he would take stones with him and all that sort of stuff. It's Mafia, right? 

[00:00:30] Kyle Risi: Exactly. The message to whoever did this was, this is what happens when people don't pay us back, or rather he didn't pay us back, so you will. 

[00:00:39] [00:01:00]

[00:01:05] Kyle Risi: Welcome to the Compendium, an assembly of fascinating and intriguing things. A weekly variety podcast that gives you just enough information to stand your ground at a social gathering. We explore stories from the darker corners of true crime, the annuls of your old unread history books, and the who's who of extraordinary people.

[00:01:24] I'm, of course, your ringmaster for this episode, Kyle Recy. 

[00:01:28] Adam Cox: And I'm your fire eater this week, Adam Cox. 

[00:01:31] Kyle Risi: I feel like you're going back over all the traditional ones. 

[00:01:33] Adam Cox: How do you remember what I've been?

[00:01:34] Kyle Risi: I just, I just know that you would have already captured the most basic ones in the early episodes, right? Fire eater, snake dancer, think I was a fire dancer. I don't know if I was a fire eater. Ah, oh yeah, actually I do have visions of you wearing your nipple tassels. I don't know why that would be part of the outfit. They would set alight real easily. They would do, and that's what makes it dangerous.

[00:01:55] That's what attracts people. 

[00:01:58] Adam Cox: What do you want me to be, like the pot washer? 

[00:01:59] Kyle Risi: [00:02:00] I don't know, I thought you were going through all the admin roles. Like Sue from finance. I want to get back into the circus. Oh okay, you're still trying to find your niche, basically. 

[00:02:09] This is a PSA. Letting you know that all the latest things is now its own episode exclusively available free on our Patreon. You can of course listen to more of us and our weekly ramblings of fascinating facts and tidbits about everything that we've discovered over the last seven days.

[00:02:26] And all you need to do is just sign up as a free member and enjoy your bonus content. Also don't forget signing up gives you early access to next week's episode a full seven days early before anyone else.

[00:02:36] You can also support the compendium by signing up as a certified freak Which gives you access to all of our upcoming episodes. Of course, we understand that paying a few dollars is sometimes not really an option for some, which is absolutely fine. If you still want to show your support, you can help us by leaving a little review on your favorite podcasting app.

[00:02:54] Your support really helps us reach more freaks of the show. Get some more listeners.

[00:02:59] But [00:03:00] Adam, today is an unusual episode. 

[00:03:03] Tell me more. It's a two parter. 

[00:03:05] Oh, you're going to drag this story out, aren't you? 

[00:03:08] Well, actually, story is filled with so many twists and turns that it needed to be two episodes. And we don't normally do two episodes. I think the only episodes that we've done two parters are, refresh my memory. 

[00:03:19] Adam Cox: Titanic and Man and Ox. 

[00:03:21] Kyle Risi: Was it just those two? Yeah. And now we're adding the third one to it. Adam, today's compendium. We are diving into an assembly of intrigue, faith, and corruption.

[00:03:31] Adam Cox: Something to do with the church. Based on? Faith. Either that or it's the song by George Michael. 

[00:03:38] Kyle Risi: Adam. For over 1,500 years, the Vatican has kept the world out. It's a place shrouded in mystery operating in obscurity under the supreme dominion of his holiness The Pope using both its religious and political power. The Vatican has long been able to bury. All. Of. Its. [00:04:00] Secrets. 

[00:04:00] For the past 40 years, one of those secrets is the mysterious disappearance of a 15 year old girl called Emanuela Orlandi, who on June the 22nd, 1983, disappeared after attending a music lesson in Rome. Back then, hundreds of teens would go missing across Italy, most of them runaways trying to escape their lives.

[00:04:22] Emanuela was different. She was what people called a Vatican girl. 

[00:04:28] Adam Cox: What does that mean? 

[00:04:29] Kyle Risi: So her father was an employee of the Holy See, which meant that she and her family were able to actually live within the Vatican gates. What's even rarer, is when a Vatican citizen goes missing.

[00:04:41] This has never happened before in the history of the Vatican that we know of. And so when this did happen, it captured a lot of attention across Italy. Even more so when Pope John Paul II made a statement that seemed to suggest that he knew what might have happened to [00:05:00] her. 

[00:05:00] So today we're investigating the Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi in this rare two part episode. Our search for the truth is going to take us to many places, from the KGB in Russia, alleged satanic sex cults, of course, I mean this wouldn't be a What's a 

[00:05:16] Adam Cox: story without a sex cult? 

[00:05:18] Kyle Risi: Exactly! We will also explore actual Documented Catholic prophecies from Portugal and even the mafia involving financial corruption at the heart of the Vatican.

[00:05:30] We might even get a peek into one or two or maybe three consecrated Vatican tombs. Believe me when I say today's story is straight out of a Dan Brown novel. Have you read any Dan Brown? No, I've seen his movies. You've watched, The Da Vinci Code?

[00:05:46] Uh huh. Is Angels and Demons? Maybe. Well, that one is set in the Vatican, and that's what I'm basing this on. It's like, oh, there's like a weird inscription here that's from an anonymous source, and it's telling you to go where the angel is pointing, [00:06:00] where you'll get a clue, and then there's an inscription on the tomb.

[00:06:02] It's like that. I don't know what's wrong with Italians. I thought this was just Dan Brown, but apparently this is how Italians do it. Co coerce with each other. 

[00:06:09] Adam Cox: What, like running after statues? 

[00:06:11] Kyle Risi: Yeah. They're like, they'll send you a clue going, mom, do you know where my socks are? Go to where the kitty cat clock in the living room is pointing and then you'd be like, what the fuck is that, mom?

[00:06:22] Adam Cox: It's under the sofa. . 

[00:06:23] Kyle Risi: Yeah. Like, just be straight talking. But there's so many like encrypted notes that get sent in this story. It's like, just come on. Just say what it is that you mean to say rather than sending these investigators on this wild goose chase.

[00:06:36] Well then it's not a good story if that's the case. I think that they knew that this would be made into, eventually, made into a film. It was made into a film? No it wasn't, but it was made into a documentary. Okay. As many things are. But if they wanted to make it into a film, they've laid down all the groundwork already because these, Cryptic clues telling you to go to this film director's warehouse and search in basement 3 for the thing that's emitting the green [00:07:00] light. where you'll find your clue 

[00:07:02] Adam Cox: well, it sounds like the Pope did it based on what you said at the beginning. Adam, don't even get me started. It

[00:07:06] Kyle Risi: In this story, the Pope is culpable in this. I guarantee it. Now, the thing is though, the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi is still unsolved. There have been recent developments that may provide answers very soon. 

[00:07:20] So while I'm not a huge fan of unsolved mysteries, this story could be ready to blow wide open pending its most recent lead in this 40 year old investigation.

[00:07:29] But be warned, Adam. Getting to the end of the story will come with a lot of twists and turns. At times, it might be difficult to keep up, but I promise you, it will all come together in the end. And hopefully, you too will be intrigued enough to keep an eye on where the story is going to go next.

[00:07:45] Adam Cox: Okay, I'm excited. Are we ready? I'm ready.

[00:07:47] Kyle Risi: So Adam, of course, our story takes place in Italy, the Vatican to be precise. This is where Emanuela and her family called home. It's located within Italy, completely encircled by the city of Rome at just [00:08:00] 121 acres in size, with a rough population of around about 750 people.

[00:08:05] The Vatican is not technically part of Italy. It is its own separate, sovereign, independent nation state. The government there is the Holy See, which governs every Catholic institution pretty much in the world. The Pope is in effect, his president, but also the hope for an estimated 1. 28 to 1. 39 billion baptized Catholics around the world.

[00:08:27] And as an entity is extremely powerful and extremely secretive. It is this dynamic that often makes the Vatican so problematic. We've been to the Vatican. What were your first impressions of it? Did you get a sense of like, wow, this is, somewhere really special.

[00:08:44] Adam Cox: I mean, it was a big building and I think the drive up to it. It felt quite grand, I think. I can't remember much around the Vatican though, just the Vatican itself. 

[00:08:54] Kyle Risi: Oh Adam, the corridor leading to the Sistine Chapel, I think is the gallery. Oh yeah. Oh my [00:09:00] god. Is that where David was? No, David is in Florida. We're talking about the statue of David, right? Yeah, I think he is, I was gonna say Florida. He is in Florence, I believe, so he wasn't there. 

[00:09:10] Adam Cox: There was some famous statue that we did see, because I remember everyone queuing up to like take pictures. 

[00:09:14] Kyle Risi: There were a hell of a lot of famous statues in there. So it could be any one of those. Was it the one without the head? I can't remember. Who knows? I don't know. Something Greek or Roman. I don't know. Yeah. They're just white statues. They all look the same, famously. 

[00:09:26] Adam Cox: They've all got their nipples out. 

[00:09:27] Kyle Risi: Sometimes not even a nipple. Like what happens to your nipple? Yeah. Tasteful, no nipple. 

[00:09:33] So Adam, almost every citizen in the Vatican is a member of the clergy, including of course the Pope, his cardinals, priests, and of course nuns. But citizenship works very differently than in any other country around the world. Citizenship is only granted on a temporary basis based on your capacity to serve within the church.

[00:09:50] Basically, on your first day, HR hands you your citizenship, depending on obviously your job, and once you leave your citizenship. is essentially revoked. And while there are [00:10:00] like 2, 400 people who work within the Vatican, almost none of these people are citizens. Because jobs like tour guides, museum secretaries are not considered part of the fold. So to them, citizenship is just denied.

[00:10:12] Fifteen year old Emanuela Orlandi, on the other hand, was because of her dad. His name was Urkel Orlandi, and he worked as an office clerk in the prefecture of the Pontifical Household under John Paul the second. He was basically in charge of the papal household handling various civil duties. Basically, he was just a regular guy working in the cubicle one or two floors below the Pope's penthouse, essentially. 

[00:10:37] Emanuella was the second youngest of five siblings. Her older sisters were named Frederica and Natalia. Her younger sister was named Maria Cristina, but she also had an older brother named Pietro. 

[00:10:48] And by all means, the Orlandi's were just a typical Catholic family going about their lives. The kids went to school and socialized in Rome, but when, it was time to go home, they would retire within the Vatican gates, [00:11:00] which were closed each night at midnight, creating this kind of sense of safety in the way that they live their lives, which I think must be quite nice and quite romantic. It'll be the equivalent of living inside the cathedral. 

[00:11:11] Adam Cox: Yeah, but didn't like a lot of villages or towns back in the day have city gates and they would lock those gates. I guess when they were castles and things like that Yeah, that's probably led from that 

[00:11:21] Kyle Risi: probably but I also get the sense this Really isolates you as someone really special when you get to call your home the Vatican , you are like the original Cinderella. Oh my god, a night full of taking drugs and drinking down the park. I gotta get home. It's almost midnight. And then you like just make it before they shut the gates. 

[00:11:39] Adam Cox: Would you really want to turn up high in the Vatican? 

[00:11:41] Kyle Risi: No, they're probably well behaved And being a Vatican citizen was really special. After all, only a handful of people got to call themselves citizens. And in terms of the Urlandi family, like several generations of their family were Vatican citizens because they come from a long line of people that support the Pope in kind of different [00:12:00] ways.

[00:12:00] Now, the first key event in the story doesn't actually start with Emanuela instead, we are first going to go back two years earlier, to May the 13th, 1981. Pope John Paul II was shot during a Catholic celebration of Our Lady of Fatima. 

[00:12:16] Basically, a man had stepped out of the crowd and fired four shots at the Pope. One bullet hitting him in the arm and the other in the abdomen. As screams and chaos erupted all around, the Pope mobile Do you know that's a thing? That's what they call it. It's called a popemobile. Basically, it's just a, it's like a jeep or like a Vauxhall caddy where there's a chair in the back or like a bar where the Pope can prop himself up and then they'll drive through the crowds and the Pope will just sit there and wave.

[00:12:39] Do you know what he needs? What? An armored vehicle by the sounds of things. Well, the thing is though, after this had happened, the Popemobile did get upgraded to then have glass all around the different sides. Woodproof glass. Woodproof, yes. Exactly.

[00:12:51] So at the moment that he shot, the Popemobile just sped off with the Pope inside. They rushed him to Rome's Gemelli Hospital where he underwent four hours of emergency surgery to remove a [00:13:00] large portion of his intestine. And the surgery was successful with the Pope later going on to say that this was a miracle attributed to the Madonna of Fatima. That was the day that they were celebrating, this was the 64th anniversary of that day. Who, 64 years previously during this miracle, had prophesied that this same event would happen. 

[00:13:19] Adam Cox: Oh, what, like a Pope would be shot? 

[00:13:20] Kyle Risi: A Pope would be shot, interesting. But we're going to get onto the story in just a second.

[00:13:25] Adam Cox: Sure, but I'm guessing it's nothing to do with modern medicine. That would have like saved the day here. Purely the miracle. 

[00:13:31] Kyle Risi: Well, the Pope was supposed to be murdered, but they saved him. And his justification is that he was supposed to have been saved. It was more like a warning, but I'll get onto that in a second because the man who shot the Pope was a 23-year-old Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Akka who quickly was apprehended taken into custody. And was later discovered that he had been on the run from both the Turkish police and Interpol after escaping prison for killing a journalist and a human rights activist 

[00:13:57] When he escaped Mehmet headed [00:14:00] for the Vatican using a fake passport and a semi automatic pistol Where, even though he never said so, it was believed that he was acting on behalf of a Turkish ultra nationalistic, neo fascist, Islamic political movement called the Grey Wolves.

[00:14:15] So they're like an international terrorist organization. 

[00:14:18] Adam Cox: Right, because I was going to say, what was his motivation, but he's been like put up to the job, being paid? 

[00:14:22] Kyle Risi: That's the assumption, he's never said that he was part of them, because of course he's from Turkey. Uh huh. They just assumed that he was working on behalf of this notorious group terrorist organization that's gonna be very important. 

[00:14:33] Adam Cox: He's not gonna tattle tale because he'll probably get killed, right? 

[00:14:35] Kyle Risi: Well, this is the thing normally when the gray wolves they act they are very quick to claim responsibility They didn't do this at this time. Okay, we'll put a pin in that. 

[00:14:44] So the day after the assassination attempt The Pope addresses the people from his hospital bed, asking them to pray for Mehmet and said that he had forgiven him in full. In spite of this, Mehmet is still found guilty and he is sentenced to life in prison. 

[00:14:58] A few months later, [00:15:00] the Pope visited Mehmet Ali Atkar in prison. This had a huge impact on Mehmet because soon after this visit from the Pope, he converts to Catholicism. After being released after 19 years, he then becomes a Polish citizen because he wants to spend the last years of his life living in the home country of John Paul II.

[00:15:20] Adam Cox: So Mehmet has been inspired by the Pope who was born in Poland. And therefore now has converted and has decided that, yeah, living in Poland is where he wants to be. 

[00:15:30] Kyle Risi: So this is the first big event that will provide some context to the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi later on. But there's another piece of context that I need to tell you about before we can recount the events that took place before And following her disappearance.

[00:15:44] So the year following his assassination attempt John Paul II receives a letter warning him that information was about to be leaked that was going to ruin the Vatican and this letter was from a banker called Roberto Calvi who was basically the chairman and the CEO of a private bank in Rome [00:16:00] called Banco Ambrosiano.

[00:16:01] Now this guy was not only a banker he was also a close personal friend to the Pope himself and people would refer to him as kind of like God's banker. The bank Roberto Calvi worked for was the primary shareholder of the Vatican Bank, so they had a very close working relationship.

[00:16:17] At first the relationship between the two banks and the Pope and Roberto, they were all completely above board, but Roberto was shady as f k and everyone in Italy knew it because earlier that year Roberto accessed a trial and was found guilty of illegally exporting billions of lira out of Italy.

[00:16:34] As a result, was sentenced to four years in prison and the story became very public with concerns about how the Vatican and his relationship with the Pope was connected in all of this. 

[00:16:43] Adam Cox: So what does he know about the Pope, what do we think that he knows about the Pope in terms of his dealings?

[00:16:49] Kyle Risi: Well, that's the thing, right? so As a result of the trial and the close collapse of his bank, every single illegal transaction would soon be brought to light. Basically, the letter was saying that, I'm going to be dragging you down with me, Mr. Pope. 

[00:16:59] Adam Cox: [00:17:00] Right. Okay. 

[00:17:00] Kyle Risi: So the question is, what was the Vatican involved in? 

[00:17:04] Adam Cox: Yeah. And why are they, dealing with a dodgy bank.

[00:17:06] Kyle Risi: All of this goes back to our previous bit of context, the day the Pope was shot. Which also so happened to be the same day of the celebration of Our Lady of Fatima. revolved around this miracle that took place in 1917 in a small Portuguese village called Fatima, so on this day in 1917, the Virgin Mary apparently appeared to three village children who were out herding their sheep.

[00:17:30] The Virgin Mary told the children that they needed to share what she was about to tell them with the world. She said that in order to end World War I and bring peace back to Earth, everyone needed to become a hell of a lot more Catholic than they already were. 

[00:17:44] Adam Cox: I feel like that's an ulterior motive at play here. Possibly! And also, that must have been really hard work. Mary's turned up and she's like, social media hasn't been invented yet. This would be so much easier if I just waited another 100 years. How am I going to get this message out? Oh yeah, tell three kids [00:18:00] in a field. 

[00:18:00] Kyle Risi: So She tells the kids that they would face terrible and unimaginable suffering. But don't worry, this won't be for long because two of the youngest were gonna die pretty soon. Well, she actually said that? Yeah, that's according to the prophecy. 

[00:18:11] Adam Cox: It's like, actually, don't worry too much. You're dead by next summer. But you, timmy. 

[00:18:15] Kyle Risi: Yeah, oh, so much pain and suffering. 

[00:18:18] Finally, she states that unless the Soviet Empire, which at the time was heavily promoting atheism, converted back to Catholicism, a Pope would be murdered. Of course, the Soviet Union never did convert to Catholicism. And so when John Paul II was shot on the 64th anniversary of the prophecy, In 1981, at 1717pm, Mmm. The Pope concluded that this was The fatima Prophecy. 

[00:18:45] Adam Cox: I mean, kids have wild imaginations. But I can't imagine as a, like a little child running around with my sheep, I'm thinking Do you know what? If the Soviet Union doesn't convert to Catholicism all hell's gonna break [00:19:00] loose. 

[00:19:00] Kyle Risi: I know, but the thing is though, this was a big prophecy and it's a serious thing. In fact, it's so serious that 64 years later they celebrate this every year on the 13th of May. So it's a big part of the Catholic faith. 

[00:19:11] Right. Okay.

[00:19:12] So in all of this, even though he wasn't actually murdered, according to the prophecy, the Pope felt that this was a warning and he needed to make sure that Russia became a Catholic country. 

[00:19:22] Now the Pope's plan to achieve this was to finance an independent anti authoritarian social movement in his home country of Poland. Of course, at that point, it was part of the Soviet bloc. This movement was called Solidarity, and he believed that if he could orchestrate a big enough following in Poland amongst this group, then this would trigger a domino effect that would result in essentially success. The government would cave, they would then allow people freedom of religion.

[00:19:47] But the problem was that the Vatican was forbidden from sending money to any political organizations, all their money was reserved for helping the church, feeding the poor, feeding the needy. You can't just send money to another country to [00:20:00] support a political organization.

[00:20:01] So there's a problem there. So the Pope had to get creative. In other words, he was going to launder money with the help of his little banker friend, Roberto Kelvey. And as you can probably guess, this would all go tits up. 

[00:20:14] Adam Cox: Yeah. Okay. I think I see where this could be heading because the Pope. Um, I mean this, this miracle, was this ever written down anywhere?

[00:20:22] Kyle Risi: Oh yeah, it's on Wikipedia, we'll I've got links in the show notes for you. You can read about it, you can see exactly what the different three prophecies were. The third prophecy about the Pope being shot, that one's shrouded in a lot more mystery. It's one of the prophecies that they decided to keep secret for a long time and was released later on. So I mean, there's loads of room there for it to, you know, be kind of embellished to be then used for their own gain. 

[00:20:42] Adam Cox: This is what I was trying to work out because was he finding a miracle that's written down or whatever, not a miracle, a prophecy, and then was like, oh, I could use this because if he's connected to the Soviet Union, he needs a reason to fund this because I imagine this assassination was an attempted [00:21:00] assassination. In the sense of the idea was never to kill him, it was just a spark. 

[00:21:03] Kyle Risi: Oh, you think that the Pope orchestrated it? Possibly, but the thing is though, I don't think that's the case, because otherwise then there would have been justified means to openly fund these different movements, but he was doing this all under cover, right?

[00:21:15] Adam Cox: Yeah, I just thought, that could be his motivation to go, Oh, well, now I have rationale or reason to do this.

[00:21:21] Kyle Risi: So it's very fishy, and it's going to continue to get fishy as we go on. Yeah. So basically this is how it worked. What he does is a whole operation in itself. The gist is that Roberto Calvi would collect money from private investors which would include money belonging to the Italian mafia. 

[00:21:37] Next he would send this money to the Vatican bank. This worked because the Vatican is a completely different state, and therefore there's no foreign exchange controls checking transfers.

[00:21:46] Next this money would then be combined with clean money which would then be sent to an offshore shell company in the Bahamas where it would then be cleaned. 

[00:21:52] Once cleaned it's then sent back with profits to the Vatican bank where it's then sent to Banco Ambrosiano which Roberto's bank, [00:22:00] which is then dispersed between the private investors, of course including the mafia.

[00:22:05] Somehow this entire process then enabled the Pope to then send this money to the solidarity movement in Poland to help make russia Catholic again. So that is essentially the dirty dealings that Roberto Calvi is referring to in his letter.

[00:22:20] And he's saying that this will be coming to light later this summer, because I've just had a trial. I've been found guilty. Now the bank is collapsed and now all of our books go into administration and everything's going to come to light. Soz. I really love you, Mr. Pope, but I can't help you here. 

[00:22:35] So, like clockwork, a few months later, Banco Ambrosiano, they officially file for bankruptcy, and they lose billions of lira owned to all these private investors, but also money belonging to the mafia.

[00:22:48] So that can't be good. 

[00:22:49] Adam Cox: No, you're going to make some enemies with that. 

[00:22:51] Kyle Risi: Oh, yes. 

[00:22:52] Adam Cox: What about the public as well? 

[00:22:53] Kyle Risi: Yeah, so it's going to be a lot of public money. But not sympathize too much with the public at this moment in time. 

[00:22:58] Adam Cox: With the people? Let's just sympathize [00:23:00] with the mafia.

[00:23:00] Kyle Risi: Let's sympathize with the mafia, yeah. So in the midst of all of this, of course, Roberto disappears. And 13 days later, his body is found dangling from some scaffolding under Blackfriars in London. In London? Yeah, so he was found dangling with an orange rope around his neck, five heavy stones tucked into his pockets, and around 16, 000 in various currencies stuffed in his clothing, including dollars, liras, pounds, Austrian shillings, etc.

[00:23:28] Adam Cox: Okay, to show that he's obviously dealing with all this money, a bit dodgy, is that why with the money? 

[00:23:33] Kyle Risi: It sounds very symbolic, doesn't it? 

[00:23:34] Adam Cox: Yeah. If he was feeling suicidal, I don't quite understand why he would take stones with him and all that sort of stuff. It's Mafia, right? 

[00:23:43] Kyle Risi: Exactly. Adam, this is a whole saga. 

[00:23:45] So despite the way that his body is found The death is, of course, ruled a suicide, but his family have always insisted that this was a hit by the mob. After all, he was a devout Catholic, and so suicide would never have been an option for him.

[00:23:58] So his family, they hire a [00:24:00] forensic scientist who conclude that he did not commit suicide on an account that it would have been impossible for him to hang himself in the way that he was found under the bridge. He would have had to have climbed down scaffolding covered in blue and yellow paint During a reconstruction of the crime scene It was shown that remnants of this paint would have transferred to his hands and his clothes, but there was none on him 

[00:24:19] Adam Cox: Okay 

[00:24:20] Kyle Risi: He would have also had to navigate the sharp angular scaffolding balancing on a steel pole all while tying a rope around his neck while then securing the other end multiple feet above himself. All while carrying heavy stones in his pockets and 16, 000 in various currencies. 

[00:24:36] Adam Cox: I mean, there's a way to go if you were thinking of suicide. I don't think you would have thought that. Especially in public, on a bridge, in London. 

[00:24:42] Kyle Risi: the belief is that he was murdered at a different location, transported via boat to Blackfriars, specifically Blackfriars, Blackfriars, and carefully arranged underneath a bridge to make it look like suicide. Whoever left him there wanted him to be found under Blackfriars Blackfriars specifically as a targeted message to the [00:25:00] Vatican.

[00:25:00] Because Blackfriars was named after an order of Catholic monks who used to operate in and out of London at the time. So it's always had symbolic meaning to the Vatican, and the currencies in Roberto's pockets reference the billions that him and his bank had lost. The stones, they say, symbolized that he was killed intentionally.

[00:25:21] Because of course, think about it, the mafia gonna make you sleep with the fishes and they like tie like a big bolt around you to hold you down. Right, okay. Those types of things. 

[00:25:30] Adam Cox: Hence why over water, that's the symbolism of this.

[00:25:33] Kyle Risi: The message to whoever did this was, this is what happens when people don't pay us back, or rather he didn't pay us back, so you will. 

[00:25:41] Adam Cox: Okay. Okay. Yeah, so based on everything you just said there, clearly this is, staged, this isn't a suicide or whatever. No. But why did the police or whoever is investigating, deem it as a suicide? 

[00:25:54] Kyle Risi: Well, initially, I guess maybe they didn't look too closely at it. Normally, people found under a bridge [00:26:00] hanging, it's assumed it's a suicide until they really investigate deeper. And that's what's happened here. They got a forensic scientist, which the family paid for.

[00:26:07] And they made loads of reconstructions it would have been a mission for him to have to navigate down there. But also, because like, when they took a boat under Blackfriars, it's so choppy under there, almost impossibly choppy to do anything. So they really persevered to make sure that he was found under that bridge rather than selecting any other bridge. 

[00:26:25] Adam Cox: Yeah. Interesting. I mean, yeah, what a way to go. 

[00:26:29] Kyle Risi: So, as expected, the Vatican, of course, deny any legal responsibility for the bankruptcy, but they do admit having moral involvement in laundering of the money, right? Because, of course, that resulted in the bank collapsing . As a result, they ended up paying out 807 million to compensate various investors that lost their money. Interestingly , though, the mafia didn't receive a single penny of any of their settlements. So they are left high and dry. Exactly! 

[00:26:58] Adam Cox: So, okay, I [00:27:00] mean, if you're connected morally, then surely you're connected more than that. I don't Yeah. What does that morally even mean? 

[00:27:05] Kyle Risi: No, it's so bizarre. They live on a different celestial plane to us. 

[00:27:10] But Adam, that brings us to June the 15th, 1983, just days before 15 year old Emanuela Orlandi goes missing. Oh yeah, I forgot that's what we're talking about.

[00:27:18] That was all building context around it. Sorry, team. So on that day, Emanuella calls her best friend from school asking to meet her somewhere in Rome. She mentions having a secret but insists that they have to be away from the Vatican. Her friend just assumes that Emanuella has either met a new boy or she has some juicy gossip that she wants to share, you know?

[00:27:38] Later in the park, Emanuella is visibly shaken, her face filled with fear and shame and she confides in a friend that a few days earlier, while walking through the Vatican gardens, she was approached by a man very close to the Pope. Fighting back tears, Emanuella reveals that this man had molested her.

[00:27:56] Right. 

[00:27:56] The two, comfort each other, but ultimately they decide to keep the [00:28:00] incident secret, believing there was very little that they could do against someone so powerful in the church. And then a few days later, on the 22nd of June, 1983, Emanuella disappears. 

[00:28:11] Now, we've been going on quite a bit, we've built up a lot of momentum here, we've provided a lot of context. I think now is a perfect time to take a quick break. When we get back, we'll dive into the eerie events surrounding Emanuella's final days, the cryptic calls that will eventually come, and the chilling implications of her disappearance. Okay. Let's do it. 

[00:28:30] So Adam, we're back. What are you thinking? 

[00:28:34] Adam Cox: What the hell is going on?

[00:28:36] It's crazy, isn't it? So, Emanuella we've got to find out how she's connected to the Pope who's been doing the dodgy dealings with a bank, and the bank owner has been basically killed by the Mafia because the Mafia has not been paid, and neither has the Vatican paid the Mafia yet. Yeah. But what has this got to do with Emanuela?

[00:28:54] Kyle Risi: So that summer, 22nd of June, 1981, Emmanuella had been taking flute lessons at a nearby [00:29:00] school. Mainly she played the flute, but she had also dabbled in singing and playing the piano. Now to get to a lesson. Emanuella usually caught the bus just outside the Vatican gates, but on this day, Rome was in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. 

[00:29:12] Because she didn't want to go out in the heat, she begged her older brother Pietro to drive her, but he refused, telling her repeatedly that he was busy. Eventually, she gives up, she collects her leather flute case, and she heads out the door to catch the bus. 

[00:29:24] Even though she turns up a little late, We know that she actually makes it to her lesson. That evening she was rehearsing for an upcoming end of year concert. Unbeknownst to all of her classmates and anyone else, Emanuela was planning a surprise performance. She would be singing instead of playing the flute. Only her parents and the school knew about the switch. 

[00:29:43] After rehearsal ended, Emanuela used the payphone at the school to call home. She spoke to her sister Frederica and she mentioned that before class a man had approached her outside offering her a job handing out pamphlets for Avon in the town square.

[00:29:56] Frederica advised her not to accept the job without first talking to [00:30:00] their parents. Emanuella agreed and then the call ended. 

[00:30:03] Later that evening Emanuella's other sister Maria headed out to meet her near Ponto Umbroto bridge in Rome at 7. 30 but Emanuella never showed up. Maria waited for a while hoping her sister would arrive but eventually decided to just go straight back home.

[00:30:18] When Maria got there everyone was at home except for Emanuella and she asked if anyone had seen her but the answer from everyone was the same. She explained that Emanuella never showed up at the bridge and as the clock ticked past her curfew at 9. 30, the family then started to worry.

[00:30:34] They began calling hospitals around Rome to see if she'd been admitted, but every call came back with the same, Emanuella wasn't there. Her siblings then decided that they were going to split up and check the various places where Emanuella might have stopped along her route home. But again, she was nowhere to be found.

[00:30:52] Her father growing increasingly concerned. He headed out to the police station to report her missing. The officer dismissed him, saying it was too [00:31:00] soon to declare her a missing person and suggested that she probably had just run off with a boy in Rome somewhere.

[00:31:05] Now the next morning, Nataliana Orlandi, that's her other sister, goes to the police station with a photograph to officially file a missing persons report. The officer takes the picture, he glances at it, then looks back at Natalia and casually remarks, I wouldn't worry, she's not that pretty, she's probably run off on her own accord.

[00:31:24] Adam Cox: Wow! 

[00:31:25] Kyle Risi: What a NOB! 

[00:31:27] Adam Cox: I mean the fact that the police can't, oh she's probably just gone off with some boy. 

[00:31:30] Kyle Risi: But Adam, this is the thing. Even though this response is appalling, it likely stemmed from the common assumption that most missing teens in Rome had simply just run away. Like that previous year, I think there'd been like 50 other teens reported missing and most of them had turned out to have run away.

[00:31:47] Adam Cox: Fair enough, I get that, but Even still you should still take the lack of compassion basically. 

[00:31:53] Kyle Risi: However of course Natalia, she's a trooper, she refuses to back down and reluctantly the police agree to open up an investigation. [00:32:00] It's not long after Emanuela's disappearance that two witnesses reported seeing a girl matching her description being approached by a man near the music school.

[00:32:08] So we have a potential sighting here. Apparently he was aged between the ages of 30 and 35. He was driving a green BMW based on what they knew. The family suspected this man could potentially be the Avon representative that Emanuela had mentioned to a sister on the phone call. 

[00:32:25] Two days later. A local newspaper publishes a brief article about Emanuela, written by her uncle Mario. It features basically a photo, a description, and her last known whereabouts, and the family's home phone number so people could call with any information that they might have. 

[00:32:40] What sets this article apart from typical reports of missing teenagers, was the emphasis on Emanuela being a Vatican girl, the Vatican was already embroiled in kind of this money laundering controversy that was still remnant from the previous couple of years. So this connection just captured public attention across Italy, right? So this was big, this stood out [00:33:00] amongst all the other missing cases. 

[00:33:01] Almost immediately, though, the family are flooded with calls from people claiming to have seen Emanuella. Most of them, of course, are totally made up or unhelpful or just outright nonsense. However, one call stands out. This caller identifies himself as Pierre Luigi. The other guy's gonna call is gonna be called Mario. 

[00:33:21] Adam Cox: Really? Yes! What? I know, it's weird. This was before Mario and Luigi Brothers, right? In 1981, I don't know. 

[00:33:28] Kyle Risi: Anyway, we've lost track. Like, keep the momentum going. The suspense is good. So, Pierluigi didn't use Emanuela's name. Instead, he referred to her as Barbarella.

[00:33:38] And he claims that on the night of the 23rd of June, remember this is the day after she's gone missing, that he and his girlfriend were having drinks in the public square near the music school and he said that a young girl aged between about 15 and 16 years old approached them and she was carrying a leather flute bag, selling them Avon products.[00:34:00]

[00:34:00] Adam Cox: Okay, but then could that just be I don't know. The name of the music school could have been any student. 

[00:34:04] Kyle Risi: It could have been. Yes, correct. It could have been. Now to manage the overwhelming number of calls and to catalogue them effectively, the Italian Secret Service visit the family and install a recording device on the phone.

[00:34:15] Now, despite this, most of the calls that were coming in were still completely junk. However, another call stands out. This time from a guy who identified himself as Mario. So we've got Pierluigi and Mario. Now he claims that he met a young girl the night after her disappearance on the 23rd, who had introduced herself as Barbarella.

[00:34:35] She was apparently accompanied by another woman, and together they were selling Avon products. Now, as you said, it could have been another student, that was also at the music school, But he says, as they spoke, Mario adds that she then told him that she was preparing for a school concert. where she would be singing. Okay. Now, this is significant because if you remember, this wasn't public knowledge. It was going to be a surprise that only her [00:35:00] parents and the school knew. 

[00:35:01] But other than that, Mario wouldn't provide any other information about who he was. So that's suspicious in itself as well. Yeah. Okay. 

[00:35:07] Now, following this, the family put up missing person posters all over Rome. They contain, of course, again, as you'd expect, her picture, her description, her last whereabouts, and a call to action for anyone to come forward with any information. So she has been treated as a missing person's case, right?

[00:35:22] The police don't think she's been abducted, that's what it is, it's a missing person's case, like a runaway, potentially. 

[00:35:27] Then, on Sunday, July the 3rd, The Vatican does something very strange that implied that they knew more than they were letting on. The Pope made a public plea during his Sunday mass address to Emanuela's captors. 

[00:35:41] Adam Cox: Okay, so assuming that she hasn't just run away, they're saying that there are captors out there. 

[00:35:47] Kyle Risi: That's what he's saying. He's basically asked them to return her home safely and he says, 

[00:35:52] I would like to express the heartfelt feeling with which I join the Orlandi family, who suffer for their 15 year old daughter, [00:36:00] Emanuela, who has not returned home since Wednesday. I share their anxieties, the anguish and the trepidation of the parents. I would not lose hope for the spirit of humanity, for those who are responsible for this case. 

[00:36:14] This is interesting because as far as the police knew, or were concerned, this was a runaway situation. That's how they were investigating it. So the family and the police were confused that the Pope seemed to be implying Has she been kidnapped? 

[00:36:28] Adam Cox: Is he just a little bit crazy or does he know something more? 

[00:36:31] Kyle Risi: Exactly! Did the Pope know something the police didn't? 

[00:36:35] So even stranger, a few days later the family receive another call. This time from a man speaking Italian with a very distinct foreign accent and he introduced himself as the American.

[00:36:45] He claimed to have spoken to Emanuella on the night she disappeared, and to prove this he played a recording of a young girl repeating the following phrases in Italian. National Boarding School, Vetro Emanuella II. I should be in the [00:37:00] third year of school next year and she just repeated that like four or five times and he recorded this he recorded it now the family instantly recognize her voice it's definitely Emanuela but she's not distraught and why would he record it for the proof that he's got her maybe this is the actual captain who's now making the ransom but it's very strange that this comes two weeks later 

[00:37:20] Adam Cox: yeah 

[00:37:20] Kyle Risi: like if you kidnap someone and you are holding them for ransom 

[00:37:24] Adam Cox: you You kind of like, let them, the people that they're friends with. You let them know straight away, right? 

[00:37:28] Kyle Risi: Yeah. So the American explained that he was part of an anonymous group, and that the family had already been in contact by two other members, Pierluigi, and Mario. 

[00:37:37] When Emanuela's father desperately asked if she was safe, the American responded, Look, don't worry, I can't tell you any more since I'm not authorized to do so. But he said it's my personal wish that all of this will end well. He warned that in order for this to happen, Italian authorities must release Mehmet Ali Akka from prison by the 20th of July. 

[00:37:59] Adam Cox: [00:38:00] Okay. 

[00:38:00] Kyle Risi: Remember him? 

[00:38:01] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[00:38:01] Kyle Risi: Mehmet Ali Atkar is the man who attempted to assassinate the Pope in 1981. The American warned that if Atkar was not released by the 20th of July, the group would kill Emanuela. But here's the thing, Adam, the family, they know the government was highly unlikely to ever release Aliaka. After all, he tried to kill the fucking Pope. 

[00:38:21] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[00:38:22] Kyle Risi: So this was a moment. When the grim realisation began to set in, that they may never see Emmanuel ever again. 

[00:38:29] Adam Cox: So, I guess you go straight to the police for this, but, like, yeah, how do they feel?

[00:38:33] Kyle Risi: The police have got all this because it's all been recorded, right? Oh, of course, yeah. Yeah, so they're working around it, but they, of course, they're not going to release this guy. So the following day, The American calls again. This time he tells the family that he's already been in contact with the Italian national press.

[00:38:47] Weird. 

[00:38:48] With instructions on where they can find proof that Emanuella was still alive. So acting on this information, the police were led to a set of bins outside the Italian parliament and inside they find a bag [00:39:00] containing a photocopy of Emanuella's music school ID, A photocopy of the tuition payment to the school, a handwritten message that said with much love and affection, your Emanuela, which the family confirmed was 100 percent her writing.

[00:39:14] But what is strange is that message. It was clear. It was coherent. It was neat. It was definitely not written by someone who was in distress after being held hostage. 

[00:39:23] Adam Cox: Hmm. 

[00:39:24] Kyle Risi: So was the note written a while ago and just happened to be in her bag? Also, these documents are not proof that Emanuela is alive or that she was safe. It only proves that someone had access somehow to her belongings. 

[00:39:38] Adam Cox: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:39:39] Kyle Risi: So the police, they're considering the possibility that following the newspaper article and the highly publicized Pope's address at Sunday Mass, that someone might have found Emanuela's bag and decided to play a cruel practical joke.

[00:39:51] Okay. 

[00:39:52] So the next day, Emanuella's uncle, he's furious at this, right? He appears on live television to address the caller identifying [00:40:00] himself as the American. And he pleads, There is no use in continuing to send us letters, photocopied IDs, or saying Emanuella is alright. These are not proof of life. If you want us to take your claim seriously, you need to provide something more definitive.

[00:40:16] That's fair, right? 

[00:40:17] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[00:40:18] Kyle Risi: What was so strange throughout all of this was the complete radio silence from the Vatican as well. It was strange because Emanuela was a Vatican citizen, but the Holy See maintained that she was not their responsibility to investigate, because the crime did not occur on Vatican soil. she disappeared to the home. How do they know that? Well, we know that she disappeared somewhere near her music school. But still, it doesn't matter where she disappeared. She is a Vatican citizen. She's one of you. 

[00:40:46] Adam Cox: Yeah, surely you'd be like working with the Italian authorities in bringing her back.

[00:40:52] Kyle Risi: 100 percent and it's only 750 fucking citizens in your fucking country. You're the one most powerful entities [00:41:00] on the planet. the police this disappearance case Emanuela. But they don't, there's just complete radio silence. Why? 

[00:41:07] Adam Cox: Is this a hoax? They're covering up something, because the Pope obviously gave away that clue that there's a captor before anyone else knew about this. And if she was scared, and she was confiding in a friend about, obviously, being molested. Then, something was up. She was either going to go tell, or they basically put a stop to it.

[00:41:27] And then come up with this whole backstory to try and get rid of her. 

[00:41:30] Kyle Risi: Adam, as we know. The Catholic Church will never give up on their own unless they're forced to, unless they're backed up against a wall. They will protect their own to the very end until they're forced to. 

[00:41:42] So I think what you're saying there is potentially accurate to a degree. So It's just weird that the Vatican are like radio silent. Yes, fair enough. One thing that does also connect them is that the alleged captors tried to tie themselves directly to Mehmet Ali Atka. Of course, the popes would be assassins. 

[00:41:59] So the [00:42:00] Vatican's attempt at distancing themselves from this case causes the public to question why the Vatican was so determined to stay out of it, when technically this proves direct involvement if they've mentioned Mehmet Ali Atka. 

[00:42:12] Adam Cox: Yeah, they're involved in some way. Even if they're not directly involved, they should be commenting on it, right? 

[00:42:17] Kyle Risi: Yeah. So this undeniably comes across as oddly detached, if not selfish. Do you know what I mean? 

[00:42:22] Adam Cox: Or hiding something. 

[00:42:23] Kyle Risi: Exactly! So on July the 8th, 1983, 12 days before the caller's deadline to release Mehmet Aliaka, Mehmet was brought to robe for questioning.

[00:42:33] Are you ready for this? Uh huh. While being escorted from the prison van under heavy media attention, He makes a surprising statement. He says the following, I am against this criminal action. I am with the innocent girl and her family. I am with Italy. I am with the Vatican.

[00:42:50] He said his attempt to assassinate the Pope was not connected to the Grey Wolves, but was orchestrated by the KGB. So if you remember, of course, the [00:43:00] Grey Wolves were the assumed organization that had, been accredited with assassinating the Pope, right? Right, yeah. And of course the KGB is the Soviet Union's secret service.

[00:43:10] Adam Cox: Yeah, so this is the first time they're mentioned so it's not the Grey Wolves, not the original organization. It's the Russians or the Soviet Union. 

[00:43:16] Kyle Risi: So like I said, this was the first time that Miette, Alaka publicly addressed his motives for the assassination attempt. Police had only assumed he was part of the gray wolves, but he'd never ever said as much. So if what Mehmet was saying was true, it raises the question, why would the KGB target the Pope in the first place? 

[00:43:35] So the speculation was that John Paul II's campaign to bring Catholicism to Russia been the plan all along, before the assassination attempt even took place, and the KGB were aware of it.

[00:43:48] This made sense given that the Pope was a Catholic who grew up in Soviet controlled Poland where all religion was banned and the Pope has always been aggressively anti Communist his [00:44:00] entire life. 

[00:44:01] So it's possible that if the KGB were involved then the assassination attempt against the Pope only accelerated his plan using the prophecy to justify advancing forward to Catholicizing Russia by funding money into solidarity in Poland. 

[00:44:16] Adam Cox: And that's what I thought. I thought exactly he was using it as a way to, yes, to spearhead all of this.

[00:44:22] Kyle Risi: So, this also lends credibility as well to the fact if you go onto Wikipedia's site and read up about the prophecy of Fatima, the first two prophecies are very clear, the third prophecy is kept very secret, and there's promises to release it after a certain period of time. It doesn't officially get released until the year 2000. 

[00:44:42] Adam Cox: Oh. 

[00:44:42] Kyle Risi: Plenty of time for it to potentially be released. you know, 

[00:44:45] Adam Cox: doctored. Yeah, yeah. And also, we're just relying on some kids in a field. 

[00:44:49] Kyle Risi: Kids lie, guys. Kids lie. So, Adam, it's a mission, isn't it, the story? 

[00:44:55] Adam Cox: Yeah, well, I think my instinct was right about there's definitely motives [00:45:00] from the Pope at hand. I didn't really believe the whole miracle thing. But, how they're still involved. I'm still not sure. 

[00:45:06] Kyle Risi: So nine days after Mario appeared on television Telling of course the American that he was foolish and that he needed to provide better proof of life that Emanuella was okay and then The press agency receives another call from the American who tell them to go and look in a rubbish bin in Via Della Dattaria in Rome.

[00:45:24] This time they find an audio tape with Emanuella's name written on it. On one side of the tape was a message from the kidnappers demanding Mehmet Aliatka be released on July 20th or else Emanuella would be killed. On the other side was a recording of a young girl wincing in pain, breathing heavily and moaning in Italian.

[00:45:46] God, it hurts. Oh God. Oh, oh yes. Why? Oh God. Why? Yes. Oh my God. Oh my God. It hurts. It hurts. 

[00:45:55] Adam Cox: What's going on here? 

[00:45:56] Kyle Risi: The voice wasn't Emanuella. The audio was from an [00:46:00] Italian porno movie. 

[00:46:01] Adam Cox: That's what it sounded like to me. Yeah, good porno, sound there. Yeah, yeah. I'm not sure you want to put that on your CV.

[00:46:08] Kyle Risi: So it sounds like this was just a prank. If it was, then it was a sick one. Because, if they were serious about their demands, Wouldn't the tape be more serious? Why would they include this porno bit?

[00:46:18] Yeah, they've done nothing to show that she's still alive at this point. There's no cooperation. All they've done is given their demands, but they've not proved that their captive is actually with us still. 

[00:46:27] The same day, the Holy See publicly offers Emanuela's kidnappers a confidential telephone line to negotiate directly with the Vatican Secretary of State, right? So they've, they've been quiet throughout this entire thing, then all of a sudden they send out this public offer for them to connect directly with the Vatican. Right. Looks like a turning point, doesn't it? 

[00:46:49] Adam Cox: Why do they feel like they should get involved now?

[00:46:52] Kyle Risi: Well, there's lots of theories to it, but here's the thing, right? Even though they offered this public line for the captives to call the Vatican directly to [00:47:00] discuss their demands, 41 years later, despite two official investigations and repeated formal inquiries, the Vatican has never disclosed whether or not the kidnappers even called.

[00:47:11] If the American was legitimate and serious about securing Mehmet Ali Atkar's release, they would have almost certainly have called the Vatican where the more powerful people could help influence his release. On the flip side, if the American never called, I think that this points out to it being a prank.

[00:47:29] Adam Cox: Yeah, and also, for the Vatican never to reveal whether they did or didn't call just seems really weird. 

[00:47:35] Kyle Risi: It does. Either way, whether or not the American called or not, it's strange that the Vatican publicly offered a call. to open up a line of communication with the kidnappers only to remain silent about whether or not they called.

[00:47:47] Assume they never called. Telling the police this would allow them to focus on other lines of inquiry. 

[00:47:52] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[00:47:53] Kyle Risi: If they did call, then the police could stay on this line of inquiry. So the silence just fueled the suspicion amongst [00:48:00] the public that the Vatican was in some way holding something back.

[00:48:04] And I think personally they were pranksters and that they never called the Vatican because three days later on the 20th of July, the day of the deadline, a priest at a random Catholic church in Rome receives a call from the American who says, today's the deadline for Mehmet Ali to be released. If he is not released by midnight, we are going to kill Emanuela. 

[00:48:24] So I think this because It's the same as when you contact customer services, right? Let's say It's the same as customer services. Let's say you're not getting what you need from them. And so by a stroke of luck, they give you the CEO's direct number, someone who can literally help you get what you need. So why the hell would you call back through to customer services later on 

[00:48:47] Adam Cox: where you could go straight through to the CEO?

[00:48:49] Kyle Risi: You know what I mean? 

[00:48:50] Adam Cox: And you have a direct line now to the CEO. 

[00:48:53] Kyle Risi: Yeah, exactly. I think if the American was legit, then they must have known the Italian government would [00:49:00] never release Mehmet Ali Atkar, especially since he was adamant to remain anonymous, right? 

[00:49:06] So the American wasn't claiming like connection to the KGB, to the Grey Wolves, no one. He was like, we're anonymous. How are we supposed to take you seriously if we don't know who you are? Calling the Vatican would be a good option in engaging someone more powerful to help them negotiate Mehmet's release. So I honestly think the American was just looking for notoriety, which is gross because I think it completely derails this entire investigation.

[00:49:30] Adam Cox: Yeah, and there's time could have been spent better on other things, looking for other leads, but it sounds like it was wasted pretty much on this. 

[00:49:38] Kyle Risi: Yeah, that's it. Now, I have to just say. When you watch the documentary on the Vatican Girl, there is an entire episode almost dedicated to this American who eventually comes forward to say, I am the American, I was the one who had kidnapped the girl, I'm the reason for all of this, and he gets interviewed, all sorts of stuff. 

[00:49:57] You can waste the entire hour on that, it is very [00:50:00] interesting, it sounds all very plausible, he goes through this thing where He tells you why he kidnapped her and how he did it, and actually the reason why the writing was so neat was because he had convinced Emanuela that her family was in great danger, so they were going to pretend that this was a fake kidnapping.

[00:50:16] Basically, it's very messy. You can go and watch it on the documentary, but you'll get to the very end where they all say, disregard everything that he says. It's not important to the case. He is clearly a prankster. He doesn't know the important information. 

[00:50:29] Adam Cox: What? So they get this guy on their documentary. But they can't prove that he's real, but they dedicate a whole episode of him just It's because it's an 

[00:50:36] Kyle Risi: important part of the story as to how much time that's wasted in this case. 

[00:50:40] Adam Cox: Well, yeah, you wasted an hour of your life probably watching that. 

[00:50:43] Kyle Risi: What's interesting though is that they compared this guy's voice to the voice in the tapes. And the first few calls from the American were not him. But the subsequent calls were. 

[00:50:55] Adam Cox: Oh, okay. So he's, uh, maybe, like, jumping on the bandwagon of this. Yeah, 

[00:50:58] Kyle Risi: yeah. There are [00:51:00] some really interesting and unusual aspects to this part of the story if you watch the documentary, which we're not going to go into, including the fact that this American comes forward and he somehow has a flute that seems to belong to him. Emmanuella. How did he get it? 

[00:51:12] He says that he had found it in the studios. I can't remember the director's name. The guy who made Hannibal, basically. He has a set of studios outside of Rome where he found this flute and they cooperated with the family and they said it's very likely that it's her flute.

[00:51:26] So he has some very interesting connections there. 

[00:51:28] Adam Cox: And I'm guessing he's been properly investigated, but never been charged with anything. 

[00:51:31] Kyle Risi: I, as far as I'm aware in the documentary, he has not been charged. They say that he should be charged, and he should be charged for a lot of stuff, because it is also likely that he did kidnap someone, and he did murder them, and he's also been involved with sexual activity with minors as well. So he's a complete piece of shit. 

[00:51:46] But! In the case of this story, I believe that it's part of a prank. Not to say that the American's initial call wasn't genuine, but the subsequent calls were definitely not. 

[00:51:56] Adam Cox: And the guy in the documentary is a bad guy, but might not be this [00:52:00] bad guy. Exactly. Wow. 

[00:52:02] Kyle Risi: So I'm sorry to have taken you through that, but it's a very important part of the story.

[00:52:05] Either way, the important thing is that the American calls this random priest In the heart of Rome, telling him that today is the deadline that they need to release Mehmet Ali Atkar.

[00:52:15] And so the next day the family wake up, fully expecting to hear news that their daughter's body had been found somewhere in the city. But of course, based on what I've just told you So, hoping the kidnappers would potentially call back and offer another deadline, which is so often the case in these situations, investigators arrange for any calls coming to the family to be transferred over to a lawyer's office.

[00:52:38] They appoint a lawyer named Francisco Genaro egadio. For someone that's supposed to be Italian, I thought you'd be better at this. So basically, he is a bankruptcy lawyer, right? So he's not experienced in hostage negotiations, but he is very good at probing people for information and picking up on small clues. 

[00:52:55] So the family go on live television to announce that from now on, all calls should go through to [00:53:00] the lawyer instead of sending a letter messages through to the press agencies or these random priests across the city. And he also says that it's time for the games to end. If Emanuela is alive, then you must prove it. If she is dead, tell us where we can find her body. 

[00:53:14] Hours later, the American disregards the request. He calls the press agency, as he had done so many times before, essentially saying, forget your plea, fuck your plea, right? We'll talk to whoever we want. And this behavior aligns with the was someone who was attention seeking, likely a prankster, right? 

[00:53:31] If you wanted to get the job done, if you wanted to secure his release, you need to speak to the Vatican or you need to speak to these lawyers. These are the people that can help. All the press can do is just release this to the public. That's all they can do,? 

[00:53:41] So by contacting the press, he ensures that his actions will be reported in the media, feeding this desire for this notoriety. Also, if the kidnappers were illegitimate, then the way they were going about it was very unusual.

[00:53:53] Because in 1983 alone, Italy had a bunch of reported kidnappings for ransom, often targeting children from [00:54:00] wealthy families. And the cases always typically followed the same pattern. will take the victim, they contact the family within hours, and then state their demands and who they were and who they were associated with. Of course, if negotiations fail, they always eliminate the hostage? right? A good example is that five years earlier, the son of a former Italian prime minister was kidnapped in Rome and he was killed after the government refused to negotiate with him. And they all typically follow this pattern.

[00:54:25] Emanuele's case breaks this pattern entirely. There is no immediate contact or demand. Kidnappers only come forward after her disappearance gained attention in the media following the posters and the media coverage and the Pope's kind of mention in his Sunday address almost two weeks later.

[00:54:44] And until that point, authorities were treating the case as a runaway. So, why did the kidnappers delay in making their demands? Why did they remain anonymous, not affiliating themselves with any group? 

[00:54:56] Adam Cox: So, are we saying like, is it something the Pope was connected [00:55:00] with and was influencing? Or was it just pranksters and no one was just, it came in the press and they just jumped on the bandwagon?

[00:55:07] They're like the two theories right now, right? 

[00:55:09] Kyle Risi: Yeah, possibly. So, if they were with the Grey Wolves, then this was strange because historically, they have always claimed responsibility immediately. Yet these kidnappers didn't. Also, the American claimed that Pierre, Luigi, and Mario, they were the first two callers that called. He was saying basically that they were part of this group. But here's the thing, they were Italians. There was no evidence that the Gray Wolves had any Italian members.

[00:55:33] Right. So who the hell were they? Now, I have a theory. I think, are you ready for this? It's a hot take. Okay. 

[00:55:41] I think the American did exist early on. First couple calls, we know that. But I think the American was the Vatican. Using this anonymous caller to distract attention away from their involvement in this case.

[00:55:56] Remember, the Vatican already had a soiled reputation from the [00:56:00] revelation of their corruption that was circulating, the dirty dealings, if you will. And I think that they were involved and they were desperately trying to divert any attention away from themselves.

[00:56:10] And I say this because coming up in part two, this elusive caller known as the American he will fade away. He's not going to be prominent in the story from now on, but it's important to point it out how drastically he potentially derailed this case. 

[00:56:25] I suspect maybe he got bored, but also new evidence and revelations in this case will overshadow the legitimacy of this caller. And believe me when I say this case is about to take on a whole new set of confusing aspects. Aspects that will show that this story is far bigger than

[00:56:44] Adam Cox: Well, I should have brought a notepad and pen, I feel. 

[00:56:47] Kyle Risi: I know, it 

[00:56:48] Adam Cox: is a saga. 

[00:56:49] Kyle Risi: It feels like a Dan Brown novel. Yeah. So to sum up, We lay down some groundwork into what the Vatican is, their corrupt financial dealings in the past, and how this led to [00:57:00] the collapse of a very important business partner to the Vatican, Banco Ambrosiano.

[00:57:04] Mm hmm. We then trace Emanuela's steps leading up to and following her disappearance including the little small clue that she was molested in the Vatican gardens just days before. We then spoke about her unique connection to the Vatican as a Vatican girl. We explored the early leads from the cryptic phone calls and the demands for the release of Mehmet Ali Atka.

[00:57:25] Prank or not prank? Or, was this the Vatican Church themselves? I think it's the Vatican. I think so! And of course along the way, this story also incriminated international terrorist groups like the KGB and the Mafia. What makes this case so profoundly unsettling isn't just the layers of this mystery, but the overwhelming sense of betrayal here.

[00:57:45] Right? From the very institution that's supposed to be protecting Emanuela and her family. 

[00:57:51] Adam Cox: Well, yeah. And just any kind of faithful religion, you would expect them to be looking out for people. 

[00:57:56] Kyle Risi: 100%! Whether the Vatican was complicit, negligent, or [00:58:00] simply just hiding its secrets, their silence has fueled decades of speculation and is denying Emanuella's family from the closure that they deserve . 

[00:58:08] So in part two, we're going to pick up the trail as new explosive revelations start emerging immediately following the death of John Paul II. Is he dead though? Definitely dead. Okay. But now that he's dead and his administration is done.

[00:58:24] People are going to start coming forward with information, right? Interesting. Yes. And I think that also further incriminates the Pope's dealings in this. 

[00:58:32] We'll hear from a key witness who claims that they handed Emanuela over to a Vatican priest in the dead of night.

[00:58:38] We'll also recover stolen Vatican documents listing the chilling expenses tied to her disappearance, including her trafficking out of the country, her continued education, her lodgings and even her medical bills. 

[00:58:53] Adam Cox: Oh, so they didn't necessarily kill her, but they wanted her out of, I don't know, the public's eye and everything like that.

[00:58:59] Kyle Risi: We'll [00:59:00] also explore a mafia boss's shocking confession and an anonymous letter that leads investigators to uncover not one, but three mysterious Vatican graves in search for more clues. 

[00:59:10] Adam Cox: Okay, this sounds good. 

[00:59:12] Kyle Risi: As the saying goes, Adam, all roads lead to Rome. But in this fucking case, it seems that all roads lead straight back to the Vatican. 

[00:59:20] Should we run the outro for this week? Let's do it. 

[00:59:22] And that wraps up another journey into the fascinating and the intriguing on the compendium.

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[00:59:50] New episodes launch every Tuesday and until then remember, when the trail gets cold, it's often because someone wanted it that way. Dead ends in part one are [01:00:00] just the beginning. What comes next could change everything.

[01:00:03] So make sure you stay tuned for part two. 

[01:00:06] See you next time. 

[01:00:07] See ya.