Emanuela Orlandi

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
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miss an episode. Hello, andwelcome to another episode of Beyond Bizarre True

(01:18):
Crime. My name is Anna Thomasand I'll be your host today. My
show is called Apple for the Teacher, which sounds like it's educational, but
actually it tells true crime stories associatedwith schools and I'm a teacher myself from
Australia if you haven't figured out wheremy accent is from. For today's episode,
I'll be presenting the case of aschoolgirl named Emmanuela or Landy, and

(01:42):
as you'll see, it's a casethat is beyond bizarre. It was in
the year nineteen eighty one, someforty years ago, that a new story
broke which sent shock waves across theworld. Pope John Paul the Second was

(02:07):
greeting crowds of worshippers in Saint Peter'sSquare in the Vatican. His distinctive white
popemobile slowly made its way through thecrowds as the Pope waved and shook the
hands of his many subjects. Butnot long after, news bulletins worldwide reported
that an attempt had been made onthe Pope's life. The Pope, the

(02:42):
former Cardinal Carol Vautuya of Polland,shot today in serious condition. They said
he was shot in the chest.There were two shots fired at the Pope
at roughly eleven twenty one am todayEastern daylight time. The Pope had been
uttering Saint Peter's Square for a generalaudience when an unknown assailant or more than

(03:02):
one assailmant assailant fired at him.It's reported that one man has been arrested.
Vatican radio said the Pope fell underthe arms of his secretary and the
jeep in which the Pope was writingdrove away at high speed. Witnesses said
blood was flowing near the Pope's neck. Vatican radio said four or five shots
were fired at the pulpe. Nowwe've just had the report that there were

(03:24):
two and we saw him fall fromthe shots. Despite receiving two bullet wounds,
the Pope survived and fully recovered.The assailant was a member of a
Turkish far right organization called the GrayWolves, who were ultra nationalistic, Islamistic,

(03:45):
and neo fascists. The man wasgiven a life sentence, but the
Pope visited him in prison for givinghim for his actions. We will come
back to this man as he isconnected to today's story. Then be two
years after the attempt on the Pope'slife that a family in Rome would become

(04:05):
inextricably linked to the Pontiff's attempted assassination. It was the year nineteen eighty three
and a family of seven lived inthe Vatican City. At the time,
there were roughly four hundred people livingin the Vatican. Ercola and Maria or
Landi had five children, four daughtersand one son. Ercole worked at the

(04:29):
Vatican supervising private audiences for the Pope. The Vatican is an independent state which
was granted its independence from Italy innineteen twenty nine. The Holy See is
the name given to the government ofthe Roman Catholic Church which is led by
the Pope. As such, theHoly See's authority extends over Catholics throughout the

(04:53):
world. The current population of theVatican is around eight hundred and the only
people given authority to live there arethe clergy and Swiss guards who defend the
Vatican. However, there are otherswho work within the Vatican who commute in
and out each day. So inthe Orlandi family, there was a daughter

(05:14):
named Immanuela who was fifteen years old. She had considerable musical talent and played
flute and piano. Immanuela took flutelessons three times a week and traveled to
her music score by bus. Butit was on a day in June nineteen
eighty three that she was late forher lesson and asked her brother Pietro if

(05:39):
he could drive her to the musiclesson, but he couldn't as he had
to drive his girlfriend to her university. Immanuela was angry with him and then
headed off by herself. After gettingoff the bus, she had a short
distance to walk to the music school. On the way, she was approached
by a man of her a jobselling Avon cosmetics, and she told him

(06:03):
that she would first have to askher parents. She went on to have
her music lesson and then phoned home, speaking to her sister Fderica, as
her parents weren't home. Here iswhat she said to Federica. While I
was going to school, I wasstopped by a gentleman who offered me a
job distributing Avon products with other girlsduring the fashion show to be held on

(06:29):
Saturday. I will take almost fourthousand lira. He's a nice gentleman.
Don't worry, he said. Toask mum's permission and give him an answer
this evening. He waits for mewhen I leave school. Her sister,
Frederica told her not to accept thejob before speaking to their parents. Emmanuela

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had told her friends at the musicschool how keen she was to have the
job, and then after her lesson, she went to meet with them,
and as they had arranged. Shehad also previously arranged to meet her sister
in town after her lesson, butwhen she didn't arrive, her sister went
to the music school to see ifshe was still there, but was told

(07:15):
she had left after her lesson.So she went home and told her parents
what had happened and about the joboffer, but her parents began to worry
when she was hours late and hadn'tarrived home. They rang many of her
friends, but no one knew whereshe was. Her father and brother then
drove around the town looking for her, but had no luck. Late that

(07:40):
night, they went to the police, who suggested that maybe she had gone
out to dinner with friends, andso she wasn't officially declared a missing person,
But when she failed to return homethe following morning, they went to
the police again and the media wasalerted to her disappearance. And as it
turned out, she was actually thesecond girl who had disappeared within a month.

(08:05):
Another girl named Marilla Grigory was alsoa high school student, and she
had gone missing in Rome, andso it wasn't a surprise that people believed
there was a link between these twoschoolgirls going missing within such a short time
of each other. The first clueabout what happened to Immanuela came from a

(08:26):
traffic policeman who believed that he hadseen her. He said, I knew
her by side because I saw herpass by every day. That Wednesday,
I saw her near a green BMWparked in a no parking zone in front
of the Senate. With her wasa man who must have been in his

(08:48):
mid thirties. I approached because thecar was in a no parking zone.
The man assured me that he wouldleave immediately, as he then did.
The policeman also said that the manhad been carrying an avon back, so
the police decided to question the Avoncompany and were told that they only employed

(09:09):
female staff. So after three days, there was still no sign of Emmanuela,
but the family received some hope whena sixteen year old boy phoned them
and said that he may have seenEmmanuela. He said he had been with
his girlfriend and they met two girls, and one of them was selling cosmetics.

(09:31):
He also said that she had aflute and that she called herself Barbararella.
She told them she had run awayfrom home, but no one in
the family believed that Emmanuela would haverun away. Then a few days later,
another man who owned a bar nearthe music school provided them with more
information which was eerily similar to theprevious report. He said, a girl

(09:52):
calling herself Barbara came into the barand said that she had run away from
home, but that she would returnfor her sister's wedding and interestingly, Emmanuela's
older sister was indeed soon to bemarried. A week then passed with still
no sign of Emmanuela, and itwas then that Pope John Paul the Second

(10:16):
himself made a public appeal about herdisappearance. And here is that audio Vicina
Lava Landi, na Manuela, QueenianiGood, Dame Evanino Junior, non Ritorno

(10:43):
Acazairi Nondolas ferranzan digi absaaquest stock cast. And here is the translation of what
he said. I would like toexpress the lively participation with which I am

(11:07):
close to the Orlandy family who arein distress for their fifteen year old daughter,
Emmanuela, who has not returned homesince Wednesday, the twenty second of
June. I share the anxieties andanguished trepidation of the parents, not losing
hope in the sense of humanity ofthose who are responsible for this case.

(11:30):
I raise my prayer to the Lordso that Immanuela may soon return unharmed,
to embrace her loved ones who awaither with unspeakable torment. For this purpose,
I also invite you to pray.This action via Pope had been unprecedented,
However, as the family had aclose connection to the Vatican. It

(11:50):
wasn't altogether unusual. Immanuela's father hadworked in the Vatican for a number of
decades. There are many photos foundonline that show the members of the family
with the Pope. Emmanuela's brother Pietroremembered how they felt so safe within the
confines of the Vatican. He viewedit later as such a privilege and a

(12:13):
blessing that he and his siblings hadgrown up within the Vatican. So after
then being missing for thirteen days,Emmanuela's parents received a call from a man
saying that she was being held prisonerby a terrorist group who were demanding the
release of the Turkish man who hadshot the pope a few years earlier.

(12:35):
They then received another call from aman who played a recording of what was
allegedly Immanuela's voice. A demand wasmade to exchange Emmanuela for the Turkish Man.
And here is an audio of whatwas said to have been Immanuela.

(13:05):
And here is what she said.School Victorio emmanuel Secondo National Boarding School.
I should be doing my third highschool this year. Scientific Although this was
the school she attended, her familydidn't believe the recording was Emmanuela. A
few days later, a man contacteda news service and again a demand was

(13:30):
made for Emmanuela to be exchanged forthe Turkish man. He demanded that the
Pope use his power to have theman released within twenty days. He stated
that he had proof that they hadEmmanuela and instructed them to look for a
package in a public square which healleged contained some of Emmanuela's belongings, and

(13:54):
just as the man had said,they found a photocopy of her music school
id and also a written by Emmanuelaherself, saying or Ercole and Maria or
Landy, Dear Mum and Dad,don't worry about me. I'm fine with
much affection your Emmanuela. The ideawas confirmed to be real, but it

(14:16):
could not be confirmed that Emmanuela hadwritten the note. Three days before the
twenty day deadline, the Pope madeanother public appeal for help in finding Emmanuela.
One can only imagine the distress allof this was causing to her family,
but it was what happened next whichwas just so disturbing if it was

(14:37):
authentic. The family received more audioclaiming to be Emmanuela. It sounded as
though a woman was being assaulted,and some even speculated that it was a
sexual assault. I've heard the audioand it sounds like the woman is crying
out in pain. There were somewho believed it was just a hoax and

(14:58):
only acting in a pawn film,so for Emmanuela's sake, her family really
hoped that this was the case.After releasing this audio, a demand was
also made for a direct telephone lineto be installed to the Cardinal for the
Secretary of State at the Vatican.This request was granted, and a man

(15:20):
then made sixteen phone calls to thenumber from different telephone booths. One of
the calls also threatened to kill thepope again if the Turkish man in prison
was not released. The twenty daydeadline then lapsed, with the Turkish man
remaining in prison, and the familyreceived no notification if Immanuela was alive or

(15:41):
dead. The Pope then told thefamily Emmanuela's disappearance involved international terrorism, but
there were never any details provided aboutwhat the Pope may have known. The
family felt that information was being keptfrom them. The long that Emmanuela remained
missing, the more that various theorieswere put forward about what may have happened

(16:06):
to her. One such theory camefrom a man who was a former member
of a criminal gang in Rome.He stated that Emmanuela's kidnapping was enacted against
the Vatican in order to force themto repay a large amount of money that
a criminal syndicate had lent to theVatican bank. This theory argued that taking

(16:27):
a Vatican official's daughter for ransom wasthe way to get their money back,
and this theory may have had somecredibility when the girlfriend of a gang boss
went on the record claiming that hehad told her he had indeed kidnapped Emmanuela.
Emmanuela's brother, Pietro, noted thisman resembled the police sketch drawn of

(16:49):
the man with the BMW who hadbeen seen by the traffic officer. However,
that man had subsequently died, butPietro pushed for his two to be
exhumed, hoping that DNA evidence mayprove to support the theory. However,
there was nothing found linking the manto Emmanuela. Another theory put forward was

(17:12):
that the Vatican and the police kidnappedyoung girls like Emmanuela and Marilla and forced
them to participate in sex parties whereforeign diplomats were also involved. Now we
fast forward to twenty years after Emmanuela'sdisappearance. During that time, her father

(17:32):
and brother had worked tirelessly to findher, and they felt that the Vatican
knew more than they were prepared tosay. But Emmanuela's father was to pass
away in two thousand and four withoutknowing what happened to his precious daughter.
He had served the Vatican his wholelife, having lost confidence in the Catholic

(17:52):
Church. On his death bed,he said, I was betrayed by those
I served with loyalty. Then onlya year later, in two thousand and
five, Hope John Paul the Secondfell ill and died. Pietro had always
hoped that one day the Pope wouldtell them what he knew about his sister.
In the Pope's last will and Testament, it stated that he wanted all

(18:18):
his personal documents to be disposed ofthe family then felt that whatever he knew
about Emmanuela had died with him.The Pope had handed over the documents too
a personal adviser of his, andPietro found out that he had not destroyed
certain documents as they were deemed tobe too important, so Pietro wondered what

(18:40):
was it about these particular documents thatmade them not destroyed with everything else.
He then tried for ten years tohave access to these documents, but failed,
but finally, when he tried onemore time, he was finally granted
access to the Vatican archives, butafter hours of search, he found nothing.
It was then in two thousand andten, twenty seven years after Emmanuela

(19:06):
went missing, that the Turkish manwho had attempted to assassinate the Pope was
released from prison, and in aninterview he stated Emmanuela was being kept as
a prisoner by the Vatican and thenwent on to live in another European country
in a monastery as a nun.It was then in the year two thousand
and thirteen, just eight years ago, that the Vatican elected a new pope

(19:32):
named Pope Francis. The newly electedPope gave his first Sunday Mass in March
two thousand and thirteen, and amongthe see of worshippers were Emmanuela's mother Maria
and brother Pietro. At the endof the mass, Pope Francis stood at
the church exit, greeting people Asthey left, including Maria and Pietro.

(19:53):
He took Maria's hand and said,Emmanuela is in heaven. But Pietro then
said to the Pontiff, until thereis proof to the country, I live
and hope that she's still alive,and I hope that you will help me
find the truth. And to this, the Pope replied, she's in heaven.
His response really bothered Pietro, andhe stated, for thirty years,

(20:18):
we don't know if she's dead oralive, and suddenly he comes out and
says she's dead. How does heknow? Then, not long after this
meeting with the Pope, the thirtyfirst anniversary of his sister's disappearance approached,
and as it fell on a Sunday, Pietro made a formal request to the
Pope that he mentioned Emmanuela in hisMass service. Pietro attended the Mass with

(20:44):
two hundred supporters, but they weredisappointed when he didn't mention Emmanuella. They
then shouted shame. Pietro said,she's the only Vatican citizen to ever be
kidnapped. Indifference would be bad enough, but there is a desire to have
Immanuela forgotten at all. Costs.Then, four years later, Pietro wrote

(21:07):
a letter to Pope frances which readsas follows, Pope Francis, I am
Pietro Orlandi, and after all theseyears, I'm still here seeking the truth
about the abduction of my sister Emmanuela, a Vatican citizen, an innocent fifteen
year old who has been denied thechance to choose her own life, denying

(21:30):
even today all forms of justice,a story that over the years has been
marked with false leads, cover ups, silences, and above all, lack
of cooperation on the part of theHoly See. You said he who stays
silent is an accomplice. It's true. There are people who know in the

(21:51):
Vatican, and they have stayed silentfor many years, thus becoming accomplices of
those who have responsibilities in this matter. In this regard, there are papers
marked confidential, and some authorities ofthe Holy See are quite aware of this.
These papers, which include important informationabout this inhumane story, could allow

(22:15):
us to embrace Immanuela or give hera proper burial after thirty three years.
I'm wondering why you continue to denya family the opportunity to give light and
peace to its daughter. To itssister. We have the right to know
the truth contained in those documents,and if the pontifical secret was placed on

(22:36):
the disappearance of Immanuela, please takeoff the seals that are creating barriers in
obtaining truth and justice. Secrets cannotexist in a state that stands at the
center of Christianity because they are contraryto the words and teachings of Jesus.
Mine is a strong voice without resignation, which will guide me in this life

(22:59):
and beyond to seek truth and justice, so that this cry for help belongs
to all the innocent victims and peopledeprived of liberty. We will not let
anyone steal our hope. Pietro Orlandi, March the twenty eighth, two thousand
and seventeen. So as we've seen, Emmanuela's family received various leads over the

(23:22):
many years since her disappearance, andit was only a few years ago,
in two thousand and nineteen, thatthey were given some further hope. They
received an anonymous letter which instructed themto search two tombs in a Vatican cemetery
which supposedly contained Emmanuela's remains. Theletter showed a photo of a stone figure

(23:45):
which was pointing, and the lettersaid to search where the figure was pointing.
So the tombs were opened, butthey turned out to be empty.
So as it stands today, Emmanuelahas never been found. And here are
some final words from Pierretro. Hefirstly talks about the countless theories that have
been put forward over the years.I don't know about the theories, but

(24:10):
I do say this, the behaviorof the Vatican over these thirty six years
has been one of secrecy and lackof collaboration, and it has made me
think there are leaders within the Vaticanwho know what happened, but due to
this being so damaging to the imageof the Church, they've been doing all
they can to ensure that the truthdoesn't come out. And here he talks

(24:34):
about that fateful day when Immanuela askedhim to take her to her music lesson.
It's a very painful memory. Sheinsisted I take her and we rowled
over it. Then she left,slamming the door. I never thought it
would be the last time I sawher. I've gone over it so many
times, telling myself, if onlyI had accompanied her, maybe it wouldn't

(24:59):
have happened. From that day myfamily entered into this nightmare. My mother
is eighty eight, and she hasevery faith in all that I'm doing.
She prays for me as she believesI will find out what happened to Emmanuella,
whether she is alive or dead.Until we find her remains, we
must never stop hoping she's still alive. There have been countless books written about

(25:25):
her disappearance, including one by afemale photographer who followed the family for months
and then devised a plan to getsome of Emmanuella's mother's hair as she wanted
to test the DNA. So theplan involved putting tape around her fingers and
then running them through Maria's hair,and it worked as she managed to get

(25:45):
strands of her hair. So inthe next part of the plan, she
went through Pieretro's garbage and took oneof his wife's discard a tampons. So
why on earth would she do this? Because she needed DNA from Maria and
Pietro's wife because she had a wildtheory that his wife was actually in Manuela

(26:07):
pretending to be his wife. Canyou believe this? When Pietro was asked
about this, he said, nothingsurprises me. Anymore. But for me,
her brother is an absolute saint.What he has done to find his
sister is just so heartwarming but alsoheartbreaking. I just so feel for him.

(26:29):
This has consumed his life for almostforty years. You can see photos
of him and his sister together andit's just so sad to look at you
see them as they were as littlechildren. He has given countless interviews on
TV shows and remained in the publiceye in all of these years that have
passed, so really he hasn't beenable to have a normal life. I

(26:53):
would imagine his sister has been inhis thoughts every day, so his sisters
disappearance has defined his life. Hehas a Facebook page and Instagram dedicated to
Emmanuela, so you can see thathe still campaigns to this very day.
And while researching this story, Icame across a haunting video of Immanuela herself.

(27:18):
Just a month before her disappearance.She and her classmates from her high
school had all participated as an audiencein a television program, so you could
actually see videotape of her in theaudience, and it just defies belief that
in only a matter of weeks shewas to disappear so mysteriously. So that's

(27:40):
the end of the bizarre case ofthe Disappearance of Immanuela or LANDI thank you
for joining me for this episode ofBeyond Bizarre True Crime, and be sure
to check out the next episode,which will be hosted by Barry from the
Open Shutters podcast. If you'd liketo listen to more of podcast Apple for
the Teacher, It's available wherever youget your podcasts and can also be found

(28:06):
on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.But let me leave you now with this
preview of my show. Hi,I'm Anna Thomas and let me tell you
about my podcast Apple for the Teacher. It sure sounds like it's about reading,
writing and arithmetic, but don't letthe title for you. I'm a

(28:27):
teacher from Australia and tell true crimestories associated with schools which go far beyond
shootings and teacher sexual misconduct. Ifyou're like me, you may feel that
you know enough about some high profilecases such as Ted Bundy and the Zodiac
Killer. Apple for the Teacher presentslesser known stories such as albino student murder

(28:52):
in Africa, schoolgirl sexual slavery inLibya, a school suicide bombing in Pakistan,
a student and buried in his schoolin India, a teacher be headed
in France, Polish teachers executed bythe Nazis, just to name a few.
But you'll also find school based tragediessuch as a school bus stranded in

(29:15):
a snowstorm, a school wiped outby a landslide, the drowning of students
in a sinking ship. It canbe described as a mixed bag of diverse
stories, So if you're looking forsomething a little different in the true crime
genre, then give it a listenand I hope you can join me soon,
but until then, remember to bea good apple. Beyond Bizarre True

(29:41):
Crime is produced by Mike Morphord andJazz Battencourt for abjac Entertainment, with music
by Connor Battencourt. If you enjoythis podcast, make sure to subscribe wherever
you are listening now, and pleasetake a moment to rate and review the
show. You can find Beyond BizarreTrue Crime on social media. We're on
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(30:04):
us on Facebook by searching for BeyondBizarre True Crime podcast. The views and
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in on Saturdays for all new episodesof Beyond Bizarre True Crime.

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