ROME – On the fortieth anniversary of the disappearance of Mirella Gregori, the mysterious caller “Alessandro,” who invited Gregori, 15, to meet up on the afternoon of her disappearance, is being investigated following a unanimous go-ahead from the Chamber of Deputies for a new parliamentary enquiry that will not only investigate the Emanuela Orlandi case, but the Gregori case too.

 Gregori, who disappeared on May 7, 1983, just 40 days before the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, received a telephone call from someone she thought she knew called Alessandro. It is this call that is the subject of current investigations into the case.

 “Who is it? I didn't understand, who is speaking? If you don't tell me who it is, I'll hang up right away," Gregori said when she first answered the call. 

 Then she thought again, “Ahh yes…Alessandro…I understand,” and told her mother that she would “Be back in a little while,” as she was going to meet Alessandro, who was a friend of hers from school.

 However, Gregori never returned home. The boy came home at 10.30 p.m. and when Gregori’s mother managed to reach him on the phone that same evening, he told her that it was not him who rang. He spent the afternoon at a friend's house in viale Libia. He had not seen Mirella for two years since the end of secondary school. 

 Following the unanimous vote for a new parliamentary enquiry, Gregori’s sister, Maria Antonietta told Il Fatto Quotidiano, “I am hopeful, I see a small glimmer.” 

 “When the vote took place, hearing my sister's deputies speak touched me deeply. Mirella has always been somewhat sidelined. Her story has always been associated with Emanuela's, there are some points in common but maybe, thanks to this committee, someone will be able to see her story from another perspective, seeing elements that have not been taken into consideration. There is so much confusion, too many wrong trails. At the time, the simplest one was not investigated. I want the truth, whether it is beautiful or not. At least I would know where to bring her a flower. I owe it to my parents who are no longer with us. I hope this parliamentary enquiry does not remain suspended like our lives.”

 Journalist Mauro Valentini, who dedicated a book of enquiry “Cronaca di una scomparsa” (Chronicle of a disappearance) to Mirella, with a detailed reconstruction of the story, and of the investigation, in a few words expressed his opinion on the case. 

 He told Il Fatto Quotidiano, "Mirella fell into a trap. It was someone who knew her who set it. Someone whom Mirella trusted hurt her. Who? The names are those... just a few and inside the papers. What is the prosecution waiting for to reopen that file? " 

cw