Overview
- Classmate Simona De Santo told the commission that about a year before Mirella Gregori vanished, the two were repeatedly trailed by a dark car carrying two men she described as Middle Eastern.
- De Santo said she gave this information to authorities soon after the 1983 disappearance but that the deposition she recalls signing cannot be found, which she believes involved the carabinieri.
- Her description mirrors earlier accounts, including a 1984 statement by Vatican citizen Raffaella Gugel who reported being followed by a young man with Middle Eastern features.
- The new testimony has renewed attention to a long-debated theory of a premeditated operation potentially aimed at pressuring the Holy See, with no definitive link or resolution established.
- De Santo also reported receiving silent anonymous phone calls at the time and told lawmakers she does not personally believe the Gregori and Orlandi cases are connected.