The disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi shot to international attention when it was linked to a host of conspiracy theories

A childhood friend of a missing Vatican schoolgirl who disappeared more than 40 years ago has been placed under investigation for allegedly lying to prosecutors.

Laura Casagrande, now 57, may have been the last person to see Emanuela Orlandi before she vanished in 1983, aged 15, on her way to a music class.

Casagrande, also a former student of the Tommaso Ludovico da Victoria music school, was among the first to give statements when the inquiry into the disappearance reopened in 2023.

She had a hazy recollection of being called in the days after the disappearance by someone demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman jailed for shooting Pope John Paul II in 1981.

Orlandi’s disappearance spawned many elaborate theories, including one that she was being held hostage in exchange for Agca’s release. But investigations never yielded concrete leads and witnesses have proven unreliable.

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Emanuela Orlandi, the teenager thought to have been kidnapped in 1983 (AP)

Prosecutors said on Friday that Casagrande’s latest testimony had “appeared very contradictory”, in their decision to put her under investigation.

Andrea De Priamo, president of the bicameral commission, said it was “as if the person being heard wanted to withdraw from the scene”.

Casagrande apologised for gaps in her recollection of events during her testimony.

Laura Sgrò, a lawyer for the Orlandi family, welcomed the decision to quiz her on her recollection of events.

She said: “You can tell she is being reticent. Is she covering for someone? Why is there so much fear so many years later?”

Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, told Italian media: “This is important news, and I’m happy that the prosecutor’s office is investigating confidentially; it means they’re doing it with complete seriousness.”

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Pietro Orlandi (pictured) welcomed the decision to look into Laura Casagrande’s testimony. The family have accused the Vatican of hiding information (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The disappearance is among Italy’s biggest unsolved cases and inspired a hit Netflix documentary before investigators reopened the case.

Carabinieri in Rome are now sifting through old documents and piecing together the missing girl’s last movements in collaboration with Vatican magistrates.

An initial review of evidence carried out in 2023 drew out leads “worthy of further investigation”, Vatican chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi said at the time.

It remains unclear how or why Orlandi vanished that evening, on 22 June, 1983. Theories have ranged from a supposed KGB plot to a mafia operation orchestrated by senior staff at the Vatican.

Emanuela’s father Ercole Orlandi worked as a messenger for the Vatican and the family lived in Vatican City State.

Another theory held that she had been taken to London and lived in a youth hostel owned by a Catholic congregation, funded by the Vatican.

Over the years, the case has taken investigators around the world following leads and in search of her remains.