More bones unearthed at Vatican embassy as coroner weighs in

VATICAN CITY – More bones were found on the grounds of the Vatican embassy in Italy, adding grisly new evidence to the growing mystery over who was buried on Holy See territory and why.

As police returned to the compound Tuesday, coroner Giovanni Arcudi said preliminary examinations of bones found last week indicated they belonged to a woman likely in her 30s, “not an adolescent.”

The finding is significant since speculation has focused on whether the bones were Emanuela Orlandi’s. She was the daughter of a Vatican employee who disappeared in 1983 at age 15.

Despite the age of the bones, the Orlandi family lawyer, Laura Sgro, told the ANSA news agency her clients are waiting for DNA results. Some have hypothesized Emanuela wasn’t killed immediately, but instead held for years against her will.